Chapter 3 - Sleepless Starlight

James still couldn't sleep. He had been awake on and off since about 2:00, so he had only slept about three hours total. Himself, Skye and Abi had darted upstairs to bed, when they had entered the house. There was shouting, but ultimately Elma kept the confrontation under control.

Thankfully, James hadn't heard the whole argument, since he had dozed off. Since Elma had given it as an order to Lin to get back to work, his father, ultimately could not refute it - it was that that probably allowed him to sleep for a little while.

However, he was now awake, no longer dozy like he was in the early hours of the morning. It was now 3:50, and he could barely sleep a wink. He looked around the room, bored. His gaze then lead to his roommate, Skye. Since she rolled around slightly, her hair was was messier than she would have ever wanted it. However, her sleep was very peaceful, more so than him.

James then pulled the curtain slightly, to look outside at the city. Despite the residential district being fairly tranquil, the rest of NLA was still in full bloom. The industrial district was humming with its usual production, and nighttime testing; the commercial district was quieter than day, but was still bustling slightly from nocturnal shoppers; the administrative district was always bustling, and tonight was no different - with BLADE tower lighting up the city with its beacon.

However, the best sight was the sky. Not only were the multiple moons shinning over the land, but the sky itself was glowing. There was an aurora in the sky, beaming all colours of the rainbow. It was a sight to see, and it never got old.

'It's beautiful, isn't it?' Skye asked James, suddenly appearing next to him. It startled him, to which he nearly fell sideways, but Skye caught him with her arm. The two giggled quietly.

'Did I wake you?' James asked her, whispering.

'Nah, I was already awake. Besides, why would I miss this', she gestured towards the window.

'Yeah, I know what you mean... It is beautiful, isn't it?'

'Brilliantly. I would love to be up there, flying among it...' Skye then rested her head on James' left shoulder. The action caught him off guard, again, but Skye's smiling face calmed him. They were like that for a while, just letting their eyes and mind wander into the aurora, moons, and onto the stars.

'I just realised, a week from now, we'll be able to sign up for BLADE, well the preliminary testing anyway. That means we will be able to fly across Mira!'

'When we get a Skell license?'

'When we get a Skell license.'

'Oh, I am SO framing this! This is the Ultimate dirt!'

James awoke. So did Skye. The two were awoken by a dreadful cackle of laughter, coming from the adjoining bedroom, across the hallway. Neither of them remembered when they had fallen asleep, however it was obvious that they had fallen asleep at some-point during the early hours of the morning. Also, they had managed to fall asleep so that Skye was curled into James' body, and James had his arm around her. Even now, they were bright red. Skye's Chocolate hair had become messy throughout the night, but her arms were numb from sleeping. However, James managed to somehow read her thoughts, and brushed the hair out of her face. She blushed slightly on top of her already rosy skin from awaking in the arms of her best friend. Even though she knew that Abi would eventually give her and James bedlam for sleeping together, despite accidentally, a part of her just wanted to stay there, as James' heightened pulse, made him really warm, and cosy...

However, their lay-in was interrupted by a walking potato:

'Jamy, Skye, Linly has made breakfast!' Tatsu declared, leaning into the room, and then hastily running down the stairs. It was an convenient excuse to get up, without any awkward talk as to why they had ended up how they were. When they went down the stairs into the kitchen-diner, Lin had already prepared breakfast.

As usual for Lin's cooking, it was amazing. Lin had cooked a Full English Fry-Up, with a Miran twist; instead of using pig meat with chicken eggs, it was suid meat and evello eggs. Even with the alien ingredients, it still tasted brilliant - each bite was heaven for the senses. However, neither James or Skye even knew what the original tasted like!

What was troubling, was that Abi was still yet to appear. Elma (whom had stayed the night, however she didn't sleep as she was in her Mim), Lin, James and Skye had almost finished their breakfast, with Tatsu partway through his third serving, she was still laughing in her room. She graced them with her appearance shortly after they had pretty much finished. However, she was already out of her pyjamas, and looked as if she was ready to go out, which she was. Poking at the remains of the meal, Abi took a couple of morsels out of the serving, and dumped the rest in front of Tatsu, who immediately began his fourth, and hopefully last, serving. By now, it was nearly 9:30, and Abi was ready to go out.

'Mum, can I go out to meet some friends in Unity Park?' She asked. Lin pondered for a short time, but after what her daughter went through last night, she owed her this.

'Sure, but be careful!' She replied

'Thanks mum, I will!' When she left, Elma turned to Lin.

'So, Lin, since you're now going back the hangar soon, I'm guessing you want to familiarise yourself today?' Lin's face lit into a happy, but somewhat devilish, grin.

'Heh, you bet! I can't wait to get back into the ol' hangar. I have a bunch of ideas for developing new tech! I'm going to go get up, and get there ASAP!' Lin bounced upstairs; Tatsu had just finished his breakfast, all 4 servings of it. Elma turned to the two teens left at the table.

'So? What do you usually do on a Sunday?' She asked, creating idle conversation with the two.

'Uhh,' James replied on the spot 'Not much? It is a Sunday after all. However, I was going to start looking into what missions would be available as BLADE training, since we can technically sign up within the next couple weeks or so.'

'Oh? I didn't realise that it was so soon.'

Then, Elma's communicator went off. She answered it.

'Elma, ya busy? We need ya over at HQ, pronto.' The gruff voice of Vandham asked.

'Could I ask as to why, commander?'

'Let's just say, it's important.' Elma paused for a moment, the replied

'Is it too important to bring two young people that I trust, whom are in my care at this point, along?' Vandham murmured for a short while.

'I suppose it won't hurt, heck this concerns the younger generation anyway. See ya in an hour, Elma.' Elma then addressed the two young adults:

'Look's like I just found something. You ready?' She asked them.

'Yes ma'am!' They replied, in sync.

It had been quite a long time since either James or Skye had set foot in the administrative district, but since it was designated for BLADEs, this made sense. The service lift adjoining the residential and administrative districts was situated on the south-west corner of the admin district, and there was not much there. However, a short walk away was the BLADE tower itself, by far the only building in NLA which could be described as a skyscraper. To most, the lit upper floors acted like a beacon to those in the nearby area, as the iconic point of the city.

And it was bustling with BLADEs. Some going to and from missions, some reporting back to HQ to hand in important Intel, some retiring to the barracks, and some browsing either Armoury Alley or Mission Control. It would be unusual if it wasn't busy, with the only exception being when the Lifehold core was being recovered.

Elma led the two to the front of the tower, to which they found the BLADE commander waiting outside, arms crossed, like usual. Elma approached the former chief engineer of the White Whale.

'Commander.' Elma greeted.

'Elma... and aren't you Lin's kid?' He asked James.

'Yes sir!' James replied obediently, saluting his future commanding officer.

'...and you're... You're the kid of two of Team Mayfrick, aren't ya?' Vandham turned his attention to Skye, seeming quite inquisitive.

'Um... yessir...' Skye timdly replied, tilting her head towards the ground. Seeing that Skye was growing somewhat reclusive at the mention of her parent's team, Elma quickly brought the conversation back to work.

'Commander, you said there was something important that you needed from me?'

'Oh yeah... Well, there's this meeting about the future of BLADE, so since your a big figure in BLADE 'n' all, it would be good if you came along. Plus with these young'ns here, they'll have a perspective none of of have had - they were born of Mira'.

Elma acknowledged this, and then nodded. 'Okay, lead the the way, Commander.' The three were then led into the heart of BLADE, the BLADE tower.