Hop To It - Advance 1

[Heyu]

Two Weeks after the ARK

“Hey, be careful! There’s chaos drives in there! If you drop it, the Y-Nought might explode!”

The crane operator looked distinctly nervous as he moved Humi’s mech, but he did start going slower.

I leaned down to whisper in the mouse girl’s ear. “It wouldn’t actually explode, would it?”

She scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, of course not.”

“It’s just that, no offense, but your inventions tend to be a little unstable.”

“I’ve been tinkering on the Y-Nought for two weeks now,” she said, folding her arms. “Tails even helped me a little. It’s practically indestructible. I just don’t want the paint too scuffed.”

I shook my head, bemused. “That’s a cruel trick.”

“It wouldn’t have come up if he took his job seriously the first time.”

We watched the crane gently set the boat-shaped mech on a flat train car, where a pair of workers started tying it down.

“What did Tails help you with?” I asked, curious.

“General stability, mostly. He improved the energy efficiency too. I returned the favor by expanding the space inside the Cyclone so he can fit more gadgets inside.”

I frowned, looking down at her. “I thought you needed a Chaos Emerald to do that?”

She shrugged, walking over to make sure for herself that the mech was secure. “I burned out four chaos drives doing it, and it gave me a stomachache, but I did it.”

“Well, alright then.” I leaned back and watched my… daughter work. Man, that was still weird to think. Maybe I should stick with ‘my kid’ for now.

Almost a full month at my parents’ place, and it was finally time to go back home. I was looking forward to it. For all that I was born and raised in the city, life in the jungle of Mystic Ruins was… nice. Uncomplicated. And with nearly two weeks passed after the world almost ended, I could do with some of the simple life.

Not that visiting the folks was unpleasant, of course. Mom and Dad were great. But our friends had moved on and there wasn’t anything left for us to do; our house’s renovation had been done for a week, and I was out of excuses to stay.

“Hayden! Humi!”

Speak of the devil; I turned to see my parents coming towards the train, trailed by Iota; the big robot was carrying four of our suitcases, while Mom and Dad each had one. The last I’d brought with me.

When we came to Central City, we arrived with five giant suitcases containing literally everything Humi owned, in addition to some duffel bags with clothes and other things we might actually use. Humi picked up enough scrap and bric-a-brac over the past month to fill up two more, and I know she still had plenty on her person. I had no idea how deep her pockets were and at this point I was scared to ask.

Mom dropped her case with a thud and pulled me into a hug. “I can’t believe you’re leaving already! It feels like you just got here… Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a few more days?”

I hugged her back before pushing her off. “Of course I want to, but we can’t put it off forever. I don’t want to mooch off you guys--”

“You could never.”

I stared at her flatly. I started to rebut her, but I got beat to the punch.

“I’m sure the boy just wants his privacy back,” Dad said, catching up. “You know it’s hard to keep secrets in our house.” He wiggled his ears.

Iota arrived, servos humming. “Heyu, friend, I am experiencing metal fatigue.”

I blinked. “Your limbs are cracking?”

“No, I am just tired. This luggage is nearing my load bearing capacity.”

I felt something jump onto my back and let Humi climb until she poked her head over my shoulder.

“The offer is still on the table, Iota!” she chirped. “I can make you strong enough to kick Knuckles’ butt whenever you want!”

The goodnik beeped in a distinctly exasperated manner. “As previously stated, I have no interest in fighting Knuckles again. Please stop trying to convince me to fight him.” He walked over to where the Y-Nought was and set down his load, helping the workers secure them as well.

She just stuck her tongue out and jumped off my shoulder into Mom’s arms. “Bye, Grangora! Bye, Gramps!”

They grinned, accepting her hug readily. “I expect you three to come back for Christmas. And Easter!” Mom said, holding tight even as Humi started struggling.

“Actually, I was thinking about that,” I said. “I think it’d be nice if you guys came to us for Easter. Great place for an egg hunt, we’ve got over there.”

Mom reluctantly set Humi down, and the mouse climbed back up me again.

“I’ll call you as soon as I get home; they should have set me up with a phone,” I assured them. “Then you’ll have my number and we can stay in touch.”

Dad’s lip quirked. “You really should get a cell phone, Hayden.” He tilted his head. “You and Humi both, maybe.”

“I can build my own…”

“I’m sure you can, squirt,” Dad said, “But until then--”

I raised a hand. “I plan to.” The train’s whistle blew, and someone near the front started shouting. “That’s our cue. It’s been great, you guys.”

Humi nodded excitedly. “It was nice meeting you! Can’t wait to see you again!”

Iota returned from his errand and took the last two suitcases. “Farewell: This was a delightful and enlightening visit to the city.”

Mom smiled. “Love you guys.”

“Love you too.”

We turned to step onto the train, finding a booth all our own to set up in; the tickets had been provided by G.U.N. for ‘services rendered,’ and even if it was only a trip of only a few hours, when else was I going to get a chance to ride first class?

I took a seat by the window and looked out at my folks, giving one last wave before the train started moving.

It was going to be a long ride.

Humi bounced in her seat. “What do you think they built? Do you think they built a lab for me? Maybe they dug a basement? Ooh, maybe we got a walk-in freezer!”

I blinked and turned from the window to stare at her. “A walk-in--Humi, what do we need a freezer for?”

“I dunno. Casinopolis had one and I thought it was--” She cut herself off.

“Go on,” I said, grinning. “What did you think it was?”

“...I thought the freezer was cool.” She spat the last word like it offended her, and her scowl only deepened when I burst out laughing.

“Statement: I would rather enjoy having a greenhouse. Or perhaps a stable.”

“To keep what animals, Iota?”

The robot tapped the area under his face contemplatively. “I would furnish it as a miniature wildlife sanctuary, for any animals needing shelter for the night, or to get out of the rain.” He paused. “Or a tool shed.”

I snorted. “If you want your own room just say so.”

“How rude.” It was hard to tell with Iota, but I’m pretty sure he was laughing.

“What do you want, Heyu?”

I leaned back in my seat. “...I wouldn’t mind an extra room for some shelves. Maybe a reading nook. I’ve always wanted my own in-house library.”

Humi giggled. “I just knew you’d give a boring answer like that.”

“Wh--hey, a library isn’t boring!”

It was a long ride. But it felt like no time at all.

-----------------

Back at the station, Angora and Devon watched the train until it was almost out of sight.

Devon put a hand on her shoulder. “They’ll be all right, Angie.”

“I know, it’s just… That was the second time they ended up dragged into a crazy adventure. I doubt it’ll be the last.”

Devon grunted, not disagreeing. “C’mon, let’s get home. We’ll invite Charlotte and Wilbur over for cards.”

“That’d be nice, yes. Maybe we can--oh, hold on.” Her phone was ringing. “Hello?”

“...Hello? Who is this?”

“This is Angora the Rabbit. Who are you?”

“Oh, you must be--right, sorry. I thought this was Hayden’s phone. I’m Rouge the Bat. I wanted to give him a head’s up.”

Angora and Devon exchanged a look. Hayden had mentioned this girl. “A head’s up on what?”

“Commander Tower of G.U.N. is about to make an announcement on television in a couple hours. I thought Hayden would want to see it.”

“Oh, I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Angora apologized. “The three of them just left on the train back to Station Square.”

“I see…” Rouge chuckled. “Well, that’s his loss then.”

“Is this speech that important?”

“Contents-wise? Not particularly. Not for him, anyway. Some of the footage we used, though…”

----------------------------------------

[Station Square]

Across most of the world, there remained a feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. The tension was slowly unraveling as more time passed with nothing happening, but most people were acutely aware of how close the world came to destruction. It was hard for many to return to normal life after something like that. Many businesses remained closed, many schools released for an early break, and many, many vacation days were being cashed in across the globe. The world was returning to its normal routine, but slowly.

In Station Square, they’d already been through one near-apocalypse in recent memory. The people there were back to business as usual in three days max. Not to mention that so many people across the Federation were deciding that now was the time to live a little, and with the theme parks and casinos fully operational where so many other cities were still dragging their feet, Station Square was doing well for itself.

Mayor Gildenhall whistled happily as he flipped through the latest tax reports. Tourists were practically throwing their money away, and a healthy percentage of it was flowing back to the city.

The door to his office opened, and Gildenhall looked up, smiling widely when he saw his daughter. “Maddie! How good to see you. I thought you were going to a party.”

“I was, but Vicky and Tom partied a little too hard last night and are home nursing a hangover,” she said, draping herself across a chair. “It’s no fun going without friends, and frankly we’ve been celebrating the world not ending for over a week; I could use a break.”

“Is your agent still not answering his phone? If you’re looking to keep busy--”

“He’s in Soleanna. He called me on Tuesday to tell me that he’s taking a month off to find himself.” Maddie sighed. “So I guess my modelling career is on hold.”

Gildenhall scoffed. “Ridiculous. What a ridiculous man.” He set a stack of papers aside. “The Spagonian Symphonic Orchestra cancelled their concert for next Friday; if you want something to do, maybe you can put those piano lessons to use?” he offered.

Maddie laughed. “Wow, dad, thanks. But playing for a crowd of drunk socialites is not the same as playing an entire concert.”

“As you say, but keep it in mind.” Gildenhall returned to his work. “At any rate, things are looking up. If tourism continues at this level for a few more weeks, we stand a chance of making back all those reconstruction costs by the end of the year.”

“That is good news,” Maddie said, smiling. She fished around for the remote; her dad kept a television in his office, though he hardly used it.

“Indeed; my reelection prospects are looking good.”

“Ah, here it is.” Maddie turned the TV on. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Gildenhall looked up, then dismissed it. “Keep it something appropriate in case we have a visitor, sweetie.”

“It’s fine, it’s just the news.” Maddie unmuted it.

On the screen, the news anchor was in the middle of introducing someone.

“...bringing you live to the press conference already in progress with Guardian Units of Nations commander, Abraham Tower.”

Maddie sat up when Tower came on the screen. He was an older man, but he had a look about him; fit, disciplined, and with mismatched eyes that commanded attention.

“Commander Tower, Central City News. The people are confused; is Sonic a fugitive?”

“He is not,” Tower said promptly. “That was a disastrous error in communication within the organization.”

“Empire Time. Sir, the public is accusing G.U.N. of incompetence with regards to the ARK incident. Do you have a response?”

Tower worked his jaw. “That--”

Another reporter cut him off, practically climbing over the woman in front of him to shout. “What do you have to say about G.U.N. pulling troops from garrisons across the country? Why is our military presence being lessened after such a disaster?”

Tower raised a hand for silence, not speaking until it quieted down. This took several minutes.

“What do you think of G.U.N.?” Maddie asked during the lull.

“Hm?” He glanced up at the screen and scowled. “They’re rude and unprofessional at the best of times, butting in where they aren’t wanted.”

“Seems a bit extreme.”

Gildenhall muttered, “I wanted to turn the Egg Carrier into a new casino, but they wouldn’t even leave a piece of it behind…”

On the TV Tower finally spoke. “I have an announcement that I believe will answer most of your questions, if you’ll let me speak… Right.”

-----------------------------------

[Empire City]

“Before we begin, I would like to properly explain what happened aboard the ARK. The story begins fifty years ago with a man named Gerald Robotnik.”

Ringo sat back, not terribly interested. He took a sip from his can. “Can’t we put on a movie?”

Penny waved him off without looking, sitting attentively. “Shh!”

“Why aren’t you at the press conference?” he asked, while onscreen Tower explained something or other. 

“I tried, but my boss wanted a more senior journalist covering it,” Penny said, scowling. “Now hush, this is interesting.”

Ringo rolled his eyes, but did quiet down.

Truth be told, it was interesting, even if it wasn’t his wheelhouse. Especially when they started playing footage. It was cool when it started with a robot looking at its reflection in a polished metal wall before turning, revealing that it was the camera. There was something about a black hedgehog, some freaky-looking lizard thing, buncha tunnels…

He took another sip, or tried to; can was empty. He crushed it and stood, intending to go get another, when Penny suddenly screamed.

Ringo jumped, feathers fluffing up. “What?! What happened?!”

“He--It’s--Ringo!” Penny pointed wordlessly at the screen, unable to talk.

The parrot looked back at the screen. The robot had made it into some glass room or other, where it was watching some anime-looking battle out in space. The robot turned away from the fight to look to either side. On its left were a bunch of Mobians, mostly kids. A mouse, a red thing, a familiar-looking fox. On the right was a bat, the Doctor Eggman, which tripped him up a little, and a brown hare--

Wait.

Ringo rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the robot had already turned back to the fight, zooming in on one of the golden hedgehogs. Tower was saying something, but he couldn’t pay attention because--

“Penny, am I going crazy or was that Heyu?”

-----------------------------------

[????????]

“--but it turned out, and I’m ashamed to say this, that the reason for the confusion was treason by one of our own. I’m not at liberty to say who, but a high-ranking officer that I left in charge of the operation subverted my orders away from their intended target and onto Sonic. The exact motivation for this is not yet known, but seems to be at least partially racially motivated. Suffice to say that the perpetrator has been thoroughly discharged.”

The crowd of reporters at the conference went into an uproar, forcing Tower to stop.

Typical humans, he thought. Looking down on anyone different from them. Sometimes he thought that if Mobians didn’t exist, the humans would find ever more banal and pointless reasons to hate each other.

Not to say Mobians were any better. One need only look at the ancient Echidnas to see that they were just as capable of prejudice.

Honestly, he didn’t know why he was watching this conference. It was a distraction.

In fact, he was just starting to turn it off when Tower dropped the big surprise:

“...and because of the many holes in our organizational structure that this entire operation has revealed, the President and I have made the decision to conduct a full audit of G.U.N.’s operating procedures and command structure.”

…He set the remote down again. “Interesting.”

“I myself will temporarily be stepping down from the role of G.U.N. Commander, with Captain Bart Bunker taking my place in the interim. I intend to have a hands-on role in reviewing and restructuring G.U.N., and will be unable to fulfill my normal duties for the foreseeable future. I am not retiring. I intend to retake command only after the position means something again.”

“Sir, what exactly do you mean by ‘restructuring?’ Will G.U.N. be able to perform its duties during this period?”

“In reverse order, yes, G.U.N. will continue operating in a reduced capacity. Captain Palisade’s law enforcement division will be largely unaffected, and our border defense forces will be dealt with in groups to prevent any gaps. To answer your first question… the plans are still being drawn up. This is not something that can be decided so quickly. We intend to begin within two months’ time. I can say that among the suggested reforms is a renewed focus on R&D; we’ve been sitting on old hardware for too long. We intend to conduct deeper research on our enemies, chiefly Dr. Eggman.”

Tower paused for breath. “I am also happy to announce a push to recruit more Mobian citizens to our forces; starting next month, we will begin implementing incentives for Mobians who sign up.”

The questions started again, but this time the TV actually was turned off.

He tapped his fingers against his desk. “...Most interesting indeed. Yes, I think I can work with this.” He smirked to himself. “I’ve always thought I’d look good in uniform. But then, I look good in anything…”

The door to his room slammed open. “Linus! Dinner!”

The platypus fell out of his chair with a curse. “Mother! I told you to knock!”

“It’s my house and I’ll go where I want! Now get your tail up here and eat!”

Linus stood with a grumble. Getting out of this house would also be a benefit…

---------------------------------

[Humi]

Getting to Station Square was easy, but it took a little while to transfer to the tram for Mystic Station. The railroad station was way busier than normal, and it was a while before the porters and pointsmen were able to hook up the Y-Nought’s freight car for them. It gave them plenty of time for Heyu to duck outside and return with a couple of pizza boxes.

“I don’t know about you,” he’d said, “but I’m not gonna want to leave home again today. We’ll have to go grocery shopping tomorrow, but this’ll do for now.”

As expected, they were the only passengers heading to Mystic Station. The ride was short and relaxed. Once they got there, however, the surprises started right away.

The station had always been a rickety wooden building, at odds with the sturdy stone bridge leading from the mountain tunnel that the tracks sat on. Now, it was made of stone, painted white and tan, with an actual enclosed interior and bricks steps and everything. It even had a single operator, a wiry old human man with a beard so thick that it obscured all of his other features. He greeted them and helped get their luggage down the stairs before returning to whatever he was doing.

More shocking than that was what had become of the docks. Gone was the precarious wooden wharf that required a ladder to get down the cliff to the water; like the station, it was stone, with a section of the cliff carved away and fitted with stairs down the cliff to a concrete platform with space for a pair of mooring posts.

It was kind of a lot. “Wow…” Humi said. She turned around. The wood log path had been replaced with flagstones, leading all the way from the steps to Tails’s workshop back into the jungle. “How’d they get all this done so fast?”

Iota beeped. “Perhaps they hired Mudflap Movers.”

Humi and Heyu turned to stare at him.

“Explanation: While Station Square’s foremost construction firm is human-owned and operated, Mudflap Movers is a small landscaping company consisting of two Mobian Moles and four Mobian Ants. They are often employed by the city and the well-to-do for park and garden spaces. They were the ones who converted the flooded area of Station Park to a duck pond.”

Heyu tilted his head. “How… do you know that?”

Which Humi thought was a good question, since she’d never heard of this Mudflap guy… although, she rarely went to the park…

“I read through a stack of local brochures while we waited for the train.”

Heyu shrugged. “Alright then.” He looked over the changes again. “The Mayor said that he was going to justify our house’s improvements by tying it to the station.” He grinned. “Imagine what the main event must look like.”

Humi flipped the Y-Nought into high gear. “Race you there!”

Heyu smirked at her, settling his suitcase onto his back. Iota, carrying five of them, made a distressed sound.

It was a ten-minute walk from the house to the station normally. They got there in three.

--------------------------

The first change they saw was that there was a driveway now. Instead of a barely-noticeable gap in the treeline, an actual path had been cut away, a lane-and-a-half of dirt road leading the way. The clearing around the old ancient warehouse had been expanded, giving them a good view of what had been done.

And oh, what had been done.

Humi’s old hideaway had been one half ancient Echidna ruin, made of dark stone that had partially been worn away by time. Either a storehouse of some sort or a public forum, it was hard to tell based on what was left. The other half was essentially a wooden awning made by some past inhabitant of the jungle, serving mostly to provide a roof and wall to cover the section of the ruins that were gone.

All of that was still true, but the construction crew had done their best to fix up what was there. The ruins had been partially restored where possible, cleaned and shored up where not. The wooden half was almost completely rebuilt while maintaining the same basic shape, rotten boards replaced and the gaps between wood and stone filled in. Windows that had once been empty air were now glass. The old door was swapped out for one that looked like it could actually withstand someone trying to break in.

And then there was what had been added. On the other side of the wood shack walls, tacked on like a child had smashed together two differently-themed building block sets, was a perfectly normal house. A small porch in front of the front door, and a shutter door that probably led to a garage. It was smaller than Heyu’s parents’ house, only a single floor… by itself, but taken as a whole with the Echidna storehouse, it was pretty darn big.

Heyu whistled appreciatively, a sentiment Humi echoed as she jumped out of the Y-Nought’s cockpit.

It was a mismatched mess of a building that looked like it could fall apart any minute, despite the obvious effort that went into it. It was a real patchwork of a home.

“It’s perfect,” Humi said, bouncing in place.

Heyu chuckled, ruffling her fur. “Wait til you see the inside before saying that, packrat.”

They went in through the door to the storehouse--was that still the front door or was it now the side door?--and the inside of that at least was mostly the same. A few low broken walls had been restored, and guardrails had been added to the loft, but mostly it was just as Humi remembered. Except for the lack of stuff everywhere, but Humi would be fixing that once she unpacked.

“Oh, here we go.”

Humi looked over at Heyu, picking a ring of keys up off a table that was one of the large furniture items Humi hadn’t been able to fit in a suitcase when they left. 

“I’ll see about making you two your own copies of the house key,” Heyu promised, flipping through the ring with a perplexed expression. “...Not sure why there’s three different keys here. They labelled this one house but the other two are blank. Oh, and here’s a remote for the garage.”

He dropped his suitcase and Humi ran over to unzip it. With a grunt of effort--these things were heavy!--she upended the entire thing, and the pile of scrap inside it took up its rightful place in her warehouse. Then she emptied her pockets too, and let out a sigh of relief at finally being able to lighten her load.

“Ahh… That was the longest I’ve ever gone without unloading,” she said, stretching her arms. She looked over the pile. There were still several other suitcases outside, all filled with her stuff. “...It’s gonna take a while to get everything how I like it again.”

“Hey, it’s something to do,” Heyu said easily. He dropped his backpack on the table and went to look out the nearest window. “Oh, that’s probably one of the keys--they put a shed out there.”

“Really?” Humi climbed up his shoulder to see. “Huh!”

“Little small,” Heyu noted. After a pause, he asked, “Have you ever tried to do your pocket trick to a whole building?”

Humi opened her mouth, then closed it, looking at the shed more intently.

Heyu chuckled and walked off to unpack his backpack. Humi, meanwhile, noticed that Iota hadn’t followed them in and went back outside to find the robot milling around their new yard.

He looked despondent.

“What’s wrong, Iota?”

“...Morose: I understand why, but the builders cut down a lot of trees in the process of making this space for us.” He kicked at the grass, revealing it to be a series of grass squares that hadn’t yet taken root. “...Trivia: Did you know that the modern idea of the lawn is actually an ecological dead zone?”

Humi didn’t know that, but Iota sure seemed bothered by it. “Well. It’s our house. You can do what you want with the lawn, can’t you?”

Iota straightened. “...I would like to plant a garden. Some flowers, bushes… do you think we could convince Heyu to get a trellis for some vines?”

“Sure! But first, can you help me get the luggage in? And I need to park the Y-Nought in the garage--”

Iota suddenly turned, and Humi followed his gaze to see Big and Froggy, walking up their driveway carrying a box.

“Hi, Big!”

“Hello, friend.”

“Hullo!” Big waved happily at them. “We brought a gift!”

“Rrrrribbit.”

Big handed the box off to Iota, who stood there while Humi climbed up him and tore the box open herself. She pulled out a fishing pole and a very large straw hat that fell down over her face even with her ears propping it up.

Iota took the rod and inspected it. “...Handmade?”

“Well a’course,” Big said, cheerful. “It’s a gift after all.” He looked over at their suitcases, still waiting. “Need some help getting settled?”

Humi beamed. “You’re the best, Big.”

“It’s no problem, neighbor.”

---------------------------------------

[Heyu]

I smiled, listening to the conversation outside. Big was good people.

I grabbed a slice of pizza from the box and took a moment to relax. Finally, after everything that happened, being home was just great.

After setting Humi’s new jewelry chest aside, I fished a coat rack out of the pile Humi left behind, set it up by the door, and hung my vest on it. 

Behind me, the pile shook, and I turned in time to see a certain trio of Omochao unburying themselves. 

Oy, these guys. They kept popping up when I least expected it, only to vanish just as suddenly.

“Oh, you three. I thought you stayed behind.” I almost hoped you had.

They arrayed themselves in front of me.

“I wanted to ask you about those ring tricks of yours, you know!” the one with glasses said.

“The mouse promised me a submarine. Also, the city scares me,” the silver one said.

“And I’m just bored of the city,” the final one said. Its eyes were partially painted over to give it a half-lidded expression that did indeed make it look bored.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, guys. I don’t know about this…”

“Hey, look!” The glasses-wearing one flew back to the junk pile and pulled out Humi’s vintage clockwork Omochao, getting a hum and a yelp out of the other two. “It’s our ancestor, the Omochao mk. I! You know, they were a marvel for their day, even if they couldn’t think like we do, able to plot out their flight paths to avoid obstacles and land on flat ground.”

“I don’t like it’s empty eyes…” the silver one said.

“Meh.” The third one dug through the junk pile, pulling out a miniature yo-yo and rewinding it disinterestedly.

“...” I shook my head. “Go through that at your own peril. That’s Humi’s stuff.”

“She’s got so much, she won’t miss a little,” the bored one said, ignoring me.

“Freeloaders.”

Well, that would sort itself out soon enough. With that done, I turned my attention to the new door, in what had once been an outside wall, and stepped into the extension.

It was a normal house, except what it was attached to. There was a big living space, a full bath, thank gaia, I wouldn’t have to mooch off Tails’s shower anymore. Plumbing, humanity’s greatest invention--anyway. There were three rooms, and a door that probably led to the garage--all unfurnished. Something else to take care of in the near future. We needed some paint, too, this plain white was boring and lame.

The last room was arguably even more important than the bathroom: the kitchen. And unlike the rest of the house, the gentlemen hired by the mayor had left it fully equipped. An oven and stove, a fridge, a side room with a washer and dryer, everything a kitchen needed. The fridge was empty, but, you know, I expected that.

My ear twitched, and I smirked as I overheard Humi, Iota and Big entering the house, and she immediately got outraged at the little mooches going through the pile. I turned to go back through the house to help mediate, except--

Brrrring

The phone rang. We had a phone, apparently.

It took me a second to find it, because it was mounted on the wall next to the fridge in such a way that I missed it on my first sweep.

“Who in the world could be calling me?” This one had a little screen on the back for caller ID, but it only said it was calling from Empire City. I don’t know who’d be calling from there, and the only way to know was to pick it up.

So I did. “Hello, this is the… Fiver residence, Hayden speaking?”

“DUDE.”

I nearly dropped the phone as the speaker boomed into my ear. “Gah! What?! Who is this?”

“Dude! What the hell, man, how did you get into space?”

I blinked. “Wait, I know that voice. Ringo?”

Now that was a blast from the past. Ringo the Parrot and his girlfriend Penny Dreadful, the crow, were friends of mine from back in high school. They moved out of Central before I did, right out of graduation, and while we phoned each other every now and then I hadn’t seen them in person in years.

He sounded a lot less casual than I remembered him, right now. “Yeah man, it’s me. Answer the question!”

“How did you even get this number? We haven’t spoken since last year.” Was this even the same as my old number? I suppose the mayor would be able to get the number that I had at my old apartment--wait, hang on. “And how do you even know about that?”

“Dude, Heyu, you’re all over the news!”

“What?!”

There was murmuring on the other end. “Huh? Okay. Penny wants me to say that you aren’t, like, the focus of the news or anything, but your face definitely shows up, dude. And I want answers, man. My last stunt, I jumped out of a plane from five miles away before gliding into a stadium and through ten burning hoops before touching the ground. You went to SPACE! You totally upstaged me, man!”

I sighed. I listened to hear what was happening in the warehouse, then leaned against the counter. “How much time you got?”

“We got all day, Heyu. Penny’s dying to interview you.”

“I bet she is.” I took a deep breath. “Alright. So, remember four months ago with the thing that flooded Station Square?”