Longing for my roots,

New world with familiar kin,

Home is where we build.

Chapter Two: Where We Build

The next afternoon, Sasha's stomach fluttered in excitement as the shuttle began its final descent into Opportunity, the capital city of Pandora.

Pressing her face to the shuttle's glass, she smiled at the pristine, futuristic city with its tall, sky-scraping buildings, flying vehicles, and clean, healthy people walking carefree through the streets without masks or breathing apparatuses.

"Excuse me, Miss?" a shuttle attendant stopped in her row.

Sasha looked away from the window and up at the smiling, green-haired man.

Seeing the awe in the young woman's eyes, he grinned even wider. "On behalf of the Hyperion Corporation, welcome to Opportunity, the capital city and jewel of Pandora!" he exclaimed. "Please put your tray in the upright position. We're about to land."

"Sure," Sasha pushed her tray table into the seat in front of her, then went back to looking out the window.

The shuttle landed smoothly on the pad, and once the fasten seat belt sign went off, Sasha unhooked herself, grabbed her duffle bag from under the seat and rushed to the exit aisle. As she walked down the metal steps leading from the shuttle to the ground, she was immediately surrounded by balmy air that carried a whiff of flowers and tropical fruit. The bright sun warmed her skin and Sasha broke out into a smile. She couldn't believe her luck that she would get to live in such a beautiful place.

Heh, they gave this city the right name, she thought as she walked toward the arrival bay. Opportunity seemed to be thriving in ways that Earth wasn't, and Sasha couldn't wait to see what the city had in store for her. As she got closer to the bay, she noticed something strange in the distance. "What is that?" she murmured, seeing what looked like a huge glass wall.

She stopped walking and moved aside so the people behind her could pass. Pulling her Echo out of her pocket, she snapped a picture of the strange sight, then asked the device, "Inquiry, what is that glass, shiny wall thing in the distance?"

Her Echo did a quick analysis, then reported back that the city of Opportunity had recently been enclosed inside a polycarbonate glass dome to protect the residents from the harsh desert climate. Sasha looked up at the sky trying to see the top of the dome, but everything looked normal.

"Hmm," she frowned and resumed walking toward the arrival bay. I wonder why Uncle Mick didn't mention the dome, she wondered. Something didn't feel right about that, but she tried to shrug it off. Maybe he thought she would be afraid to live inside of a dome and didn't want to dissuade her from coming. Living inside a dome is gonna be pretty weird, she thought. But then I've heard that most of Pandora is a wasteland. It's probably good to have some extra protection.

She was still deep in thought about the pros and cons of living inside an enclosed city, when she was interrupted by a loud, "SAAAAAAAAAASS-AGE!"

Sasha broke into an instant grin. She would've recognized that voice and awful nickname anywhere.

"LUCKY!" she shouted back, running past the other passengers. Dropping her bag beside him, she jumped into his open arms and held on tight.

He hugged her back just as fiercely for a moment, then let go. Standing back to look at her cousin, Sasha punched him playfully in the arm. "Don't call me Sass-age!"

Lucky just laughed and grabbed her duffle bag off the floor.

Sasha started to protest, but Lucky held up a hand. "Shut up, and lemme carry it. Don't worry, you can start lugging your own shit around tomorrow. Today, lemme lug."

"Fair enough," Sasha said good-naturedly as she followed her cousin out of the bay and to a paved parking lot. Sasha followed behind Lucky slowly as she took in the rows of vehicles. Some were easily recognizable, like the Jeeps, Sedans, and four wheelers. Others just looked weird, especially one particular vehicle that reminded her of a boat, except it was on land and hovered several inches off the ground. Sasha paused, confused at how it hovered.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing to the strange vehicle.

Lucky's eyes followed her finger, then looked back at her incredulously. "Are you serious?" he asked. "You've never seen a Sand Skiff before?"

Seeing the blank look on her face, he explained, "So yeah, that's called a Sand Skiff. It's powered by eridium."

"Oh wow, that's so cool! Is that how we're getting to Uncle Mick's?"

"Heh," Lucky chuckled. "I wish. They're really expensive, only like a handful of people have 'em."

He stopped in front of a beat up green Jeep with no doors and huge black wheels that made it sit several feet higher up off the ground then the traditional model. .

"THIS" he said with pride, "is my ride." He tossed Sasha's bag in the back, then gestured for her to get in the passengers side, while he got in behind the wheel.

Sasha was surprised at how dirty the outside of the vehicle looked, but she held her tongue and climbed in as best she could without soiling her clothes. The inside wasn't much better. A fine layer of dust and sand seemed to cover every surface, and garbage filled the cup holders and littered the floor.

"Here," Lucky handed her a pair of goggles and a bandana. "Put these on unless you want to be coughing up sand and skag dung for the next week."

Sasha put on the goggles and as she was tying the bandana around her nose and mouth, she got a whiff of rotten eggs and body odor so strong that it made her gag.

"Oh, sorry," Lucky grimaced and handed her a different bandana from the floor. "This one should be cleaner." He pulled his own bandana from around his neck to cover his mouth, strapped on his goggles, then reminded Sasha to do the same.

"Anyway," he said, starting the engine, "You're probably wondering where Da is, right?"

In her excitement at seeing Lucky, Sasha had forgotten all about her uncle. "Yes!" she said quickly. "I was wondering where Uncle Mick was."

"Yeah, so the plan was for all of us to come pick you up, but then Pete took a massive shit in one of the staff toilets," he explained, putting the jeep in reverse, then shifting it to go forward. "Then instead of plunging it, he got mad and started kicking it because he's stupid. He broke the bowl and now everything that was in the toilet is all over the bathroom floor and spilling out into the hallway."

Lucky slowed the jeep as they approached a guard station at the exit of the dome.

Sasha half listened to Lucky, her attention mostly on the guards. Unlike the other residents of Opportunity she'd seen during her descent, the guards didn't look happy or carefree. In fact, they looked angry in their tan fatigues and thick breathing apparatuses. They were also holding guns that were larger and more dangerous looking then any Sasha had seen back on Earth.

"Hang on," Lucky whipped out his Echo and held it out to one of the guards. The guard held out her own Echo, scanned Lucky's electronic ID, then waved him and Sasha through the exit.

"Wait," Sasha said as Lucky's jeep rumbled toward the exit. "Why are we leaving the Dome? Isn't the Holy Spirit inside?"

"What?" Lucky glanced over at her just as he passed through the dome and into the desert.

The moment he did, Sasha was hit in the face by a wave of dry heat and a cloud of sand and dust.

Pulling the bandana further up over her face, she held on tight to the Jeep's railing as Lucky gunned the vehicle.

"You thought the Holy Spirit was inside Opportunity?" Lucky asked.

Sasha nodded, "Yeah, I did."

"Oh, yeah, sorry for the confusion," Lucky said. "Naw, the bar is in Overlook. It's like a little town maybe 25 minutes outside of Opportunity. We do a lot of business with them, so there's been rumors Hyperion is planning to build a sky bridge connecting us to them. Until then, we'll just keep driving across the desert to get to them. So anyway, Overlook isn't as pretty as Opportunity, but it's more relaxed. We don't really need a dome because people look out for each other."

I thought the dome was for protecting people from the elements? Sasha thought. Aloud she said, "Okay," and went back to staring out at the seemingly endless desert landscape. She wondered how Lucky seemed to know exactly when to turn and when to keep straight considering everything looked the same to her.

After a few minutes, Lucky broke the silence by saying, "Don't be surprised if Moxxi is all pissy when we get there. She really wanted to be there when you got off the shuttle so she could take you to this fancy little bakery on main street. But after Pete broke the toilet, he and Da had to clean up, so she got stuck opening the kitchen, prepping the bar and bussing tables from lunch by herself."

"Oh," Sasha said.

Lucky made a sharp left turn, then added, "If you're not too tired tonight, you think maybe you could help us out a little? We could really use an extra set of hands tonight. You ever worked in food service?"

"Sorta," Sashs responded. "I worked at Target for a few months in high school. I mostly did the register, but sometimes if there was no one to cover the food counter, they'd put me there."

"What's Target?" Lucky asked.

Sasha, forgetting for a moment that Lucky had never been to Earth, was surprised. "You don't know what Target is?"

Lucky shook his head, eyes on the road. "Target practice, yes. But it sounds like you're talking about a store?"

Sasha nodded. "Yup, it was a big retail store," she explained. "They sold clothes, food, hair products, whatever you needed."

"Cool. We don't have Target in Overlook, but there's a store kinda like that called Sideways. They sell a lot of random stuff there too. We've also got a vending machine where you can pick up supply drops."

"Oh ok," Sasha said. "Sounds nice. And yeah, I can help out tonight."

Lucky gave her a thumbs up. As they drove the rest of the way to the bar, he pointed out landmarks that looked like and meant nothing to Sasha.

Fifteen minutes later, the landscape began to shift and change. There was still sand and cactuses everywhere, but Sasha also began seeing signs of civilization. First, there were low buildings, then houses, vehicles and eventually people walking around. They didn't look as cheerful and clean as the Opportunity citizens, but as Lucky passed, several people stopped and waved at them both. Sasha thought that was nice.

"This is Overlook," Lucky said as they drove to the center of town and parked in front of a three story building. "And this is it, the jewel of Overlook, the Holy Spirits."

Sasha looked up at the cheerful green building, with its bright orange roof, and huge shamrock painted on the front door. With a smile, she pulled off her bandana and goggles. "Wow, it's very, uh, Irish," she noted.

"Heh," Lucky hopped out of the jeep and came around to the other side. "Yeah, well, so are we, right?"

He reached into the backseat and took out Sasha's duffle bag and the two headed inside.

As soon as Lucky pushed open the door of the Holy Spirits, Sasha sighed in relief that she was met with the familiar smell of fish and chips rather than sewage from the broken toilet. As Lucky headed to the back to announce their arrival, Sasha paused and took in her surroundings.

The Holy Spirits was a glorified dive bar filled with a hodgepodge of mismatched furniture and decor giving the place a distinct sense of character. The walls were lined with old, faded posters, some of which Sasha recognized as bands, and other celebrities from Earth. There were also neon signs that said things like, "Luck of the Irish" and "Eat At Joe's". As Sasha walked to the bar area, she noted that the counter was made of rough wood that had been polished smooth over the years with use.

"Sasha!" Uncle Mick came rushing out from a backroom, his arms outstretched. As he got closer, Sasha, having only ever spoken to him over Zoom, realized that he stood a good two or three inches shorter than her.

She hurried over to him and gave him a tight hug around his broad torso. "Uncle Mick," she said, beaming. "It's so good to see you in person."

As she pulled away, a sultry female voice spoke up. "Finally, another woman to break up this sausage fest." Sasha looked to see a petite, attractive woman coming up behind Mick. "Moxxi," she said, greeting Lucky's longtime girlfriend.

"In the flesh," Moxxi teased as she gently pushed Mick aside and wrapped her thin arms around Sasha. "I'm so glad you made it safely," she whispered in Sasha's ear. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to meet you at the shuttle."

Letting Sasha go, Moxxi said at normal volume, "If you survived a trip through the desert with Lucky's crazy ass driving, you can survive anything."

Sasha chuckled in agreement.

"So," Uncle Mick spoke up. "You must be starving and tired. What do you like to eat?"

Following Moxxi to a barstool, Sasha shrugged. "I'll eat just about anything at this point, but if you have some of those sausages and fixings you showed me last night, that'd be amazing."

Mick nodded and looked over at Lucky, who, after tossing Sasha's duffle bag into a booth and was about to help himself to a drink.

"Hey!" Mick called out. "Go get your cousin some food! You can get lit later."

Lucky grumbled but recapped the bottle and headed to the kitchen muttering to himself, "Bangers, mash, carrots."

Mick checked his watch. "It's almost time for us to open. Moxxi, why don't you take Sasha upstairs and let her get settled."

"Actually," Sasha interjected, "I'd like to help out tonight."

Uncle Mick protested, insisting that she should rest and relax on her first night on Pandora, but Sasha argued back that she'd done nothing but rest and (mostly) relax back on Earth. "I want to do something productive."

Mick thought it over, then nodded. "Alright, but if you start feeling tired, I'm sending you to your room."

"Okay," Sasha agreed, eager to prove herself.