M orning After By Fang Wolfsbane

One moment she was sitting comfortably in the driver's seat of a giant transforming robot, and the next she slid down a bigger version of a laundry shaft after the daughter of one of the city's most influential men.

The slide down the shaft would have been fun if it wasn't for the rough landing that the two of them met at the bottom. Grunting, Tyla stayed on the floor a while longer whilst Sari got to her feet, dusting herself off as she begun to look around.

From what Tyla could see, it was a large, empty room with nothing of interest, as much as a probable alien spaceship could hold in terms of not containing anything noteworthy. The only thing really in the room was a big orange cube-like box. She knew the shape had a certain name, but what that name was, she couldn't remember.

Mathematics was never really a subject that managed to keep her attention. Some would argue that it was the reason for her current employment situation, she would argue in return that the shape's name literally had nothing to do with her knowledge for her current job.

Smartass. Lazy. Uneducated. Those were the first words they'd throw on her, claiming their own genius as the reason for their well-paying jobs. She didn't care how much she earned. She just wanted enough to get by and maybe buy something she liked once and a while. That wasn't asking for so much, was it? In this society, it was like asking for a feast at a soup kitchen.

"What is this place?"

The sound of Sari's voice nearly caught Tyla by surprise as she looked over to the younger girl. If the daughter of a technological genius couldn't figure out where they were, then she doubted that she herself would have any better luck.

"Dunno, kid, but it's definitely no place I've ever been to. You?" Tyla asked as she got to her own feet, wincing some from a sharp pain that shot through her thigh. Moving it side to side revealed that at worst she'd only have a bruise or two from the landing, but at least nothing was broken.

Sari shook her head, her curiosity leading her further into the room. Tyla's first thought was that they should stay put and wait to see what would happen next, but then again, they were in a ship occupied by sentient robots. How often was she going to get another chance to explore a place like this?

Taking a chapter from Sari's book, Tyla walked up to her. The room seemed empty, save for the odd shaped cube. A quick glance over it made it seem like some kind of storage device. It made sense, considering the size of the grey handles, but why would a single storage device be put in an empty room with nothing around it that looked like it was being stored as well?

An exchanged look between the two of them led to Sari slowly extending her hand towards the object. Considering that the box was at least two times her own size, Tyla didn't see a possibility of Sari accidentally opening it, so she didn't stop her, though the moment her hand did touch the side, Tyla had an overwhelming urge to pull the younger girl away, to safety.

At first nothing happened, and then a second later, the entire room filled with a bright light blue light, nearly blinding both girls with its brilliance. For a moment, the room seemed devoid of any other colour until the light focused into a straight line, aiming itself at Sari's chest.

Tyla could only watch as the younger girl stood still before her, mouth agape as images flashed between her and the box. From what Tyla could make out, Sari's images were ones of humans, whilst the box returned ones of robots, one of them similar to one of the robots they saw earlier fighting against the cockroach.

Without questioning if the object could possibly be radioactive or harmful, Tyla found her hand reaching for Sari's shoulder. The moment they made contact, however, Tyla felt something strong smack her all the way across the room like a giant, invisible hand.

All she knew within that moment was the cry that escaped her own lips, and the next, a groan as she regained consciousness that she had temporarily lost the moment the back of her head was introduced to the hard, metallic floor beneath her.

"Tyla! Tyla wake up!" Sari yelled at her, holding her firmly by her shoulders as she shook her back and forth. Tyla had to put her hand on the back of her own neck to keep it from snapping in half.

"Ugh… what was that?" Tyla asked, fighting back another groan as her head announced the pain. Asking for something for a headache didn't seem like it was on the table, at least not in her current location.

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it did something weird to my security card," Sari said, a frown on her lips as she held up a key that currently hung in place of where a security ID card had been a couple of moments before.

" Weird," Tyla hummed, taking a hold of the key, mirroring Sari's expression before a sliding sound echoed through the room, drawing their attention to the large figure that had just entered the room.

2