As they often did in the evening, Fafnir and Rana were in the hub room of their apartment, watching Earth on their viewport. As they grew bored of the 90s drama they were watching, Fafnir sighed.
“God, this stuff’s all so annoying. I’ve had aneurysms more fun than watching this.”
“Yeah.” Rana agreed. “Let me search for something new.”
She brought up the search function on the viewport and began to type in variables. Fafnir stared at the screen. “Wait. Stop.”
Rana stopped typing. “What is it?”
Fafnir pointed at the screen, a look of wonderment on her face as her finger alighted on one particular variable: “Sixth Sense”.
“…What?”
“Well, we need a way to kill the Kings, and we know that we can’t do it.” Fafnir said. “…What if we searched for psychically-inclined individuals from inside the universe, and brought them over to us?”
“Is that possible?” asked Rana, hope building inside her. She clicked through and began to search Earth, ranking the results by the individuals with the most psychic energy. Six names topped the list.
Zack Lyons.
Lola Zeller.
Joseph Castle.
Cassie Jasper.
Geoffrey Summers.
Serafina Gunn.
“Holy shit.” Fafnir breathed. “Get on the group chat right now. They need to see this.”
Fa GUYS! WE FUCKING SOLVED IT!
Mi what? are you still watching that noir Earth detective thing?
Ra This is a serious chat, Fafnir
I want no part in this Ra
Ep What’s the plan, then, Fafnir
Va Aha. Yes, I had much the same thought myself; have you found some? I hadn’t thought to search Earth.
One of the doors around the hub room opened and Mizar walked in, yawning.
“You’re reading the chat, yeah, Miz?” Fafnir asked.
“Yeah.” he replied, lifting a hand in response. “Just need a drink to keep myself awake. Coffee?”
Rana nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
Ca Yeah,, that’s gonna be quite important
We, uh, hadn’t thought that far ahead yet Ra
Vasa? Any ideas? Ra
Mizar exited the kitchen, carrying two mugs of steaming coffee. He set one down beside Rana, she looked up gratefully, and then returned to his room, yawning again.
Sa Well, Raz, tubular plan – I’m gonna dip for now but let me know if I’m needed
Seriously, just ignore him, he’s a pillock Ra
After receiving the names from Fafnir, Mizar and Raziel, in their respective bedrooms in the dimensions hanging between the universe, began to message the six psychic children.
Fafnir and Rana went back to watching an 80s Earth apartment that was a gold mine of hilarious antics. Rana smiled at her friend.
“Well done, Fafnir.”
“Oh. Thanks.” Fafnir replied, uncomfortable at being complimented by the normally taciturn Rana. “It was just an idea. Now it’s down to Vasa to think of a way of bringing them to Zion and Void.”
Saiph sidled out of his room with a lecherous grin on his face. Rana sighed as she spotted him.
“I don’t know who the fuck let you move in.”
Saiph laughed, making his way through the room to the kitchen. “Come on babe, you know I’m slammin’, really.”
“Everything that’s excreted from your foul mouth pipe makes me want to die.” Rana replied. Saiph gave another chuckle and winked at her. Fafnir grinned. “He’s a good friend, Rana; will you two ever get along?”
“It depends on whether he plans to be a piece of shit for the rest of his life or not.”
“Depends how big her rack plans on being.”
Saiph ducked as Rana threw her helmet at him. It clattered against the wall and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Whoa, chica, how about you chill out now?”
Rana made a move to draw her sword, which as usual caused Saiph to flee. Fafnir smirked. “You know, you two are quite funny.”
“Have you really been friends with… that your whole life?”
“Yeah!” Fafnir said. “Of course, I knew him before he picked up his obsession with the 90s, so… he was a different guy back then.”
“Did he still wear that fucking awful hoodie?” Rana said, glowering at the kitchen door.
“No, actually. He was quite bookish, and he loved watching viewport stuff with me. We used to get together and just binge Pollus mostly. Then we watched some 90s Earth stuff and… well, he was never the same. Something about it just spoke to him.” Fafnir replied. There was a mournful look about her, as if she was remembering a joyful past that was no longer.
“Why are you still friends with him, then?”
Fafnir gave an emotional smile. “…There was one moment that solidified our friendship. I told him my first ever joke, when we were tiny kids, and… he said…”
“Mm?”
“He said “That’s really funny, Fafnir. You should become a comedienne!” And he’s supported me ever since. He goes to every single one of my gigs, you know. Not even Miz can claim to have done that.”
Rana sat up and took a deep draught of her coffee. “…I had no idea, Faf. I’ll admit, he’s far less of a flirtatious nitwit with you than the rest of us. Guess that explains why.”
“Yeah, exactly! Anyway, why are we discussing boys again? Come on, let’s catch up on some of this viewport stuff before shit hits the fan and Antumbra arrives.” Fafnir said, cosying up on the sofa. Rana nodded. “Of course. Let’s do it.”
Saiph exited the kitchen with a soft drink, strode quickly through the hub room, and re-entered his own room. Quiet fell over the apartment, with the only noise being the viewport and occasionally, the tones playing from Mizar’s wrist phone as he messaged a girl called Lola Zeller.
hello lola. please don’t get creeped out, but it’s of vital importance that i speak to you. Mi
LZ Who are you? How do you know me?
my name is mizar. and i am to be trusted. Mi
which is important because everything i’m about to say is going to make me sound like i’m off my medication. Mi
please speak to your clairvoyant friend. she’ll vouch for me. Mi
thanks. Mi
In the darkness, Mizar sighed. Convincing six normal kids that there were two dimensions outside of the universe that needed their protection was going to be a lengthy and uphill struggle.
