Chapter 1
"Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers.
Close your eyes and see it glisten.
We're gonna find adventure in the evening air--"
Lance was humming along the song as was walking through the skyscrapers of trash. Thousands of neatly stacked cubes of trash, stories high. Rows and rows of stacked cubes, like city avenues. They go on for miles. He was walking cheerfully as he usually did, ready to go and gather the trash, like he did. Like he was programmed to do. He used his shovel to make a perfect cube of trash. He scooped it up with the shovel and put it on the wall he was working on. He dances a bit to the song before turning to the wall and tilting his head. A small mouse catching his attention.
"Why hello there!" He says with a smile. He looks on what the mouse is sitting on and raises his brows with a smirk.
"And hellloooo to this!" He puts his hands on the piece of trash and takes it out. A hubcap. The sun reflects off it. It surely was rusty. He looks up at the setting sun. He sighs as he lets the last bit of rays kiss his already tanned skin. His yellow and blue clothes made out of jeans materials being dusty from a day's work. He stretches and then takes out the player from his pocket, stopping the song. He lets his bones pop into place as not everything out of him was made of metal, obviously. Humans were still part well- human! He put the new addition for his collection in his bag and put it over his shoulder. He whistled to the small mouse that jumped on his bag and climbed on his other shoulder, earning a giggle from Lance.
"You little devil. Come on." Lance chidded as he started strolling towards his home in a jumpy, dancey and happy step. He sure as hell didn't want to be caught outside in a sand storm tonight. It was bad enough they were so frequent now. Lance was alone. He travels alone. Traverses miles of desolate waste. Oblivious to roving storms of toxic weather. Passes haunting structures buried within the trash. Buildings, highways, entire cities... Everything branded with the same company logo. "Buy N Large" "BNL" stores, restaurants, banks...transportation! The corporation ran every aspect of life. There's even a BNL logo on Lance's clothes as well.
Lance steps on some newspapers with these headlines: "TOO MUCH TRASH!! Earth Covered!!". Lance looks at it and makes a funny face. Something he didn't know already? He starts walking again but this time the mouse protests. He looks down, noticing his shoes, that also had wheels for easy transport and cool twirls, were a bit falling apart. He saw some old humans buried in the trash and one had pretty cool shoes.
"Its not stealing if he's broken...right?" Lance says to his companion. The mouse shrugs. It was a good enough answer. He took the shoes and started wheel-walking again. Rolls past a series of holographic billboards. The solar-powered ads still activate when he passes them. They all say the message he keeps hearing everyday. Lance couldn't help but mock them while he passed them.
"Too much garbage in your face? There's plenty of space out in space! BNL starliners leaving each day. We'll clean up the mess while you're away!" He says in a mocking tone. The mouse squeek-laughs. Lance smiles. That's when he passes the biggest add. The one he hated the most. A huge ass lie if you ask him personally. But hey- He's just a human, right?
"The jewel of the BNL fleet: "The Axiom". Spend your five year cruise in style. Waited on 24 hours a day by our fully automated crew, while your Captain and Autopilot chart a course for non-stop entertainment, fine dining. And with our all-access hover chairs, even Grandma can join the fun! There's no need to walk! "The Axiom". Putting the "star" in Executive Starliner. Because, at BNL, space is the final "fun"- tier." Lance said, doing a good old motion, too animated for anyone with a brain, to show how fake the message was. The mouse frowned in distaste and squeeked in protest.
"Five year cruise, huh? Welp pal, I think the cruise is just a tiny bit overdue." The mouse makes a tiny squeek. Lance was 20 after all...he lost his family thanks to this 'Axiom' shitty program or whatever. Well...he was the last one standing after all. Pretty heroic if you asked him. The holographic billboard powers off. Reveals the Axiom's deserted lunchpad in the distance. The mammoth structure sits across the bay. Now empty and dry. A polluted, dead valley. Lance almost wanted to laugh at the irony.
Near its edge rests a transport unit. A giant child's Tonka Truck left to weather the elements. A "Buy N Large" logo on its side. Lance stops rolling on his wheels and starts approaching the rear of the truck, putting his small mouse friend down. He pulls on a lever and the back lowers. He steps on the ramp and enters, the mouse following.
"Home sweet home, huh? Is that how the saying went??" The mouse squeeks and shrugs. Lance scoffs.
"Whateeeeverrrr..." He lets his bag slump down and looks around. Open racks for storing line both walls. Junk Lance found littered everywhere stored in them. The tired human removes his newfound shoes. He walks to the center aisle and smiles at his biggest treasure. Flicks on an ancient Betmax player, jury-rigged to an iPod. Pushes in a cassette labeled, "Hello Dolly!" The image is very poor quality. Actors sing and dance to Put On Your Sunday Clothes. Lance chuckles and opens his bag. Newfound knickknacks. He also pulled out the hubcap he saw. He looks at the screen and raises a brow at the similarity between it and the hats. Mimics the dancers on the screen, pretending the hubcap is a hat. He looks at the mouse with a smile on his face. The mouse tilts it's head. Lance frowns.
"It's similar enough! Come on!" He says. The mouse squeeks and Lance narrows his eyes as he puts the object away. He continues to unpack: a spork, a Rubik's Cube (unsolved) and a Zippo Lighter. Lance looks at the small treasures with a curious look. The mouse shakes his head in disapproval.
"Well excuse my poor knowledge of the way people use to live! I wasn't born, remember??" He said to the mouse. The mouse flicked his tiny nose and walked into Lance's rafts. The human rolled his eyes and started putting the objects away. A new song, It Only Takes A Moment, plays on the video. Lance is drawn to it for some reason. Presses his "Record" button on his player. He then walks outside as he is dusting his bag and looks up. Even if they are covered by the clouds thank to the polluted haze, they're still there and shining slightly. He smiles as he looks up at them. Sometimes, he wished he was a human up in space. He was sure that other humans were on those ships that left the earth so long ago. The wind picks up. A warning sounds on his arm and he takes off his gloves, showing one of the many mechanical features implanted in humans: a screen that was beeping as a warning. He looks out into the night. A sandstorm approaches off the bay. He rolled his eyes and pressed a button, closing the doors of the truck.
"A beautiful night ruined..." He mutters to himself as he walks in with his bag. The mouse pops his head out, slightly flicking it's ears. He was alone in the center of his shelter. He unwraps a BNL Sponge-cake...a fancy Twinkie to be exact....And lays it out for his small mouse friend. He happily dives in the cream. Lance walks towards where the I-Pod is and collapses in a blue hammock, letting his limbs stretch happily, his foot lightly touching the floor with it's tip. He slightly pushes himself, rocking from side to side, letting the song on the I-Pod lull him to sleep...Only to next day wake up with no batteries and almost hit a wall while he was walking to get his shoes. He climbed on the roof after and laid on a sun-chair, letting his screen catch as much sunlight as it could on his hand. Suddenly the screen beeped, the charging complete, and Lance straightened his back, getting down from there.
"Yo, bud? Do me a favor and stay here, mk?" Lance called out to the mouse inside as he took his bag and shovel and left. The mouse squeek in disapproval but in the end, stayed. The day was...interesting. He first discovered a bra. He first tried it as sunglasses or a sleeping mask...He immediately flushed as he remembered what it was for. But slowly slid it into his bag anyways. He wanted to save objects right...?? Welp, at least that's what he told himself. He also found some car keys. He raised a brow confused as to what the keys were for until he pressed them...and a car chimed in the distance. At least no robbers were there, right? He also discovered a diamond ring in a jewel case. He whistled then slowly hit the diamond. He looked unphased as he realized it was glass.
"Stupid alteans." He said to himself as he threw the jewel out. Then looked at the case. He raised his brow and smirked. The case went right in his bag. He also finds a rubber ducky...a bobble head doll...an old boot...a trophy...He also finds a fire extinguisher. Lance looks at it in curiosity but accidently activates it, spitting foam in his face. He spurts it out and frowns at it. The extinguisher flew like a bird, hitting the exact car that chimed a while ago. Soon after that...Lance's shovel strikes something solid. Faces a refrigerator much larger than himself. Now what? He looked at his hand and took off his glove again. He pointed his hand towards the big freezer and cut it in half. That's where he saw it. Green...ALIVE! A plant, though he didn't quite understand what it was at the time. It was small, fragile. He feared he would hurt it if he did anything wrong. He scooped it out with his hands, taking dirt as well. He looked at his bag and saw the boot. Perfect! He put the tiny plant in. And so that's how the day went. And now here he was, at the door of his truck, after he sat down his bag, looking at a tiny red dot on the ground.
"Uhh...Buddy? Is this yours?" Lance asked, unsure of what the tiny red dot was. He knelt down and tried to catch it. It moved. Lance stared with wide eyes. Was it alive...?? He got closer to it again. It moved. He chased it but it stopped. He stopped as well. The tiny dot did a full circle around him. Lance stared in confusion before sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tried to slowly reach for it. The dot started running and so did he after it. What he didn't see is that the dot leads Lance deep into the polluted expanse. He is so fixated on it he doesn't notice. What he also doesn't notice are many laser points coming from every direction. All racing into the valley over the contour of the terrain. Triangulating towards a center. Lance's dot suddenly stops.
"Aha! Gotcha now!" Slowly he reaches for it. Can't grab it. Just light.
"What the...??" Lance looks confused as his hand goes right through. All the dots converge in front of him. Lance blinks in confusion. Suddenly, the ground starts shaking. He doesn't see above him. The sun growing brighter behind the cloud cover. A noise. A building? Rocket engines. He looks up to see three suns descending towards him. Lance runs for it. An enormous column of fire blocks his path. A second column of fire. A third. Trapped. Damn it he was trapped. He couldn't run! He starts digging in the ground beneath him. Working fast. Noise deafening. Heat rising. Digs in just as a tide of flame carpets the ground...Then suddenly quiet, as the smoke clears. Lance gets out from the hole he dug, mumbling and a bit shaking and hits his head into something. Something big and almost hollow, made out of metal. He rubs his head.
"What the fu--" He freezes. A giant ship. He slowly walked towards the middle and out of the engine's range. A door on its underside opens. Frightened, Lance tries to hide. Nowhere to go. So he just kind of awkwardly backs away. A device lowers to the ground on a long stem. Scans the surface. Lance looks at it and whistles in awe.
"Now that's some advanced technology right there..." Lance says, getting closer. The device moved and Lance yelped, jumping a step back. A capsule descends from a chute in the stem. Lance raises a brow in curiosity. This wasn't something you see everyday, not to mention something so advanced AND probably from outer space. He felt like an idiot right now. He didn't understand half of the way these things worked. Robot arms emerge from the device. Place the capsule on the ground. Press buttons. The capsule falls away in sections, to reveal...A human...She was...pretty. She was dressed in pure white. She was wearing glasses and was way paler than him. She had freckles and her hair was a red-ish color. She opened her eyes and stretched her limbs. Her eyes were a beautiful green. Lance couldn't help the small blush creeping on his cheeks. She blinked a few times and then looked behind her. She pressed her glasses and started scanning the place. She was smaller than him. She looked adorable. Lance is transfixed. Inches closer. Watches her from behind the device. Tilts his head. Time stops. She's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. A blue ray emits from her glasses as she was scanning the place. Fans out 180 degrees every time it did. She was scanning random objects and areas.
The device rises back into the ship, exposing Lance. He rushes for cover behind the nearest rock. Never takes his eyes off the girl. Watches her walk, slightly floating, away from the ship....from the ship? The ship! Damn it, it was leaving. He rushed and took cover behind a huge boulder, away from the fire. The rocket takes off. Smoke clears. Wait- the girl-- She is watching the ship rise into the clouds. Waits until it is completely out of sight and smiles a bit. She raises up into the air, letting the ends of her uniform flutter a bit. Lance was confused. That's when she flies around the bay, soars like a graceful bird, does loops in the sky. She looks so happy to be out. Lance couldn't blame her. If he got one thing right, she had been in that capsule. She was so graceful, Lance couldn't take his eyes off of her. She zoomed right past the rock he was now leaning against as he watched her.
The girl descends slowly to the ground, doing a small twirl while she did. She widened her stance and let herself drop on the ground. She straightened her back and Lance heard that satisfying bone pop. Man, she surely must have been stiff. He sneaked up closer to take a look but accidently slipped, making a small noise. The girl immediately turned at the speed of light, her hand out and shot the boulder. If Lance wouldn't have been so quick to dodge and stay on the ground low he was sure his head would be obliviated right now....Smoke clears...All quiet. He didn't dare move. For someone so small she sure as hell was a feisty one.
Who the hell was she??