Dani’s weekend was peaceful, minus the buzz of the occasional police cruiser coming up and down her street. Her mom stayed home, so she was able to have some nice, home-cooked meals. Her mom was from the deep south part of the old USA, and had some absolutely amazing meals from their family line. Dani loved every single one of them. There wasn’t a single meal her mother made that Dani did not like, in fact. Even the most basic, easy-to-make ones. Her mother had a list of paper notes of all her recipes from the family. Dani tried to make them here and there, but usually failed pretty miserably, and he mother had to step in to help. Dani was no cook. And she was well aware of that. But she didn’t mind one bit.

  The weekend closed, and opened to another week at school. On Monday, Dani made it to school just as the ringer went off. She sat next to Markus in Mr. Keener’s class, as usual. Today’s lesson was about the guerrilla war that happened in Louisville that led to the bombings that flattened it, and led to the rise of Neo-Louisville. He showed the students footage. The footage we watched was pre-approved by not just the school, but also the parents. It showed the reality of the war. Bodies in the streets, people strung up with signs saying “traitor”, which those people were assumed to be the folks who fought to keep the US Armed Forces out of Louisville, they were a now-famous, but long-gone brigade called the “Devil’s 5th Brigade”. They were famed due to their participation in the guerrilla war. This war happened in late 2026, as well. It’s been a long time. The lesson went on to talk about the memorial in downtown NL to the Devil’s 5th.

  “Molly,” Mr. Keener started. “Could you tell me who was the commander of the Devil’s 5th?” He asked.

  There was an awkward and telling silence that spelled out that she didn’t know. “Commander Briggs, Mr. Keener” She said confidently.

  “Wrong. It was Alexander Hert.” He retorted. “Which, you would know if you weren’t on your Linkup, because it’s right on the board,” he tapped his whiteboard, the hollow sound reminding us that Mr. Keener really did like the old technology to teach, and blending it with some new tech as well. “Anyone know why Mr. Hert didn’t take the title of ‘commander’?” He turned his attention back to the room.

  Dani knew this one, but she felt like Mr. Keener didn’t want her to say it. But she chose to anyway. “Alexander Hert didn’t want to be related to the US Armed Forces, as he had previously served under them and didn’t wish to use their rank structure anymore. So he just had them call him Hert. No titles needed.” Mr. Keener smiled, and looked at Dani.

  “That’s right Ms. Moss. You been studying?” He asked.

  “Nope. Just knew that.” She heard Molly giggle a little in the background.

  “You can laugh all you want, Molly, but your grades show where you’re sitting for graduation.” He clapped back at her.

  She shut up real quick. Molly was as pretentious as she was popular. Very. She took popularity as a sign of her worth in life. Dani wasn’t unpopular nor popular. She was right somewhere in the middle, just where she liked. A lot of people knew her name, but very few actually knew her.

  The class went on with the footage of the Devil’s War. Some things were hard to see for Dani, such as the mechs walking around with bodies dangling from chains. Those mechs were Devil’s 5th mechs. Mr. Keener always told them that there was no one good side to any war. There were always people who took advantage of war to make it worse for others. That particular group of mechs were called the “Loyalist’s Despair” squad. They were infamous. They got a lot of work done, but did it in less-than-stellar ways.

  “Mr. Keener, this footage is tame compared to what I’ve seen online, y’know? Plus this shit seems like propoganda.” Mr. Keener paused the video.

  “Why’s that, Brad?” He asked.

  “Well, obviously it’s showing some bad the Devil’s 5th did but it’s mainly showing the bad the loyalists did. We both did fucked up shit. How’s it fair to not admit that so openly.” Brad said.

  “Well, to be fair, history is told by who won. And we won. The loyalists massacred families in Louisville. Is it not right to rejoice our people?” Mr. Keener asked.

  “We massacred people too. 4th Street Massacre is something you taught us about.” Brad said.

  Mr. Keener smiled. Someone has been paying attention. “You’re right Brad. This is propaganda.” Mr. Keener stepped to the door of the room and looked outside. He turned back to the class. “The school doesn’t want to admit what’s right in front of them. It takes a really strong person to deny what they can be shown. The school, and for the most part, the Heartland Pact, does that daily.”

  “So we have to sit and accept some selective truth bullshit.” Brad said, framing it as a bit of a question, but everyone knew it was a statement.

  “You don’t have to accept it. You know your truth, Brad.” Brad kind of stopped talking after that. It was quite obvious Mr. Keener wasn’t necessarily allowed to say what he was saying, but I don’t think he quite cared. He usually went off the beaten path and curriculum of what he was supposed to teach. Brad understood what Mr. Keener was saying.

  The class went on as normal. Once the bell rang, Dani got up and left, avoiding giving Mr. Keener the chance to call her out. She waited in the hall for a moment until Markus and Rachel arrived. “You guys going to prom, right?” Markus asked.

  “Yep. Dress already arrived.” Dani responded.

  “Oh my gosh yes. So excited.” Rachel said.

  “You guys think they’re gonna have some Signalite come by like they did last time?” Dani asked.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Probably. Crime in the city is low, they need to keep the Signalite brands active somehow.” Markus said.

  “True. I heard Vale was seen walking near your neighborhood recently, Dan Dan.” Rachel said.

  “Oh yeah, it was just some fundraiser for the police department.” Dani lied, almost as if it were a rehearsed lie. “Brad was really on one today, huh?” She asked, trying to move the conversation along.

  “Yeah. Brad’s always on one, dude.” Markus said.

  They continued on down the crammed hallway. It was a nice Monday for a change. People were still pushy and not really letting you move easily, but it just felt better. Even with Friday’s events fresh in mind. Dani figured it was normal. Calm after the storm, maybe. She had mostly pushed those events down in her mind.

  Lunchtime came, and Dani and her friends found their usual table. One friend, who didn’t share any classes with them, Juno was there already. They were… well, punk. No hiding that. Shaved sides of the head, extravagant, and sometimes purposefully messed up makeup. Colorful but also gritty and somewhat dirty clothes. They were also adorned with some of their first piercings. A nose piercing, two lip piercings, and some beginner ear gauges. The hair they did have, down to about her shoulder, was a tapestry of different colors. Some faded, some vibrant.

  “What’s up, dudes?” They said, with their usual, troublesome smirk on their face.

  “Nothing much, Juno. Just prom talk.” Dani responded.

  “Oh, y’all got any dates?” Juno asked.

  “Nope, going stag. Hoping to meet someone there.” Markus said, scarfing down a piece of pizza he brought in.

  “No one asked me and I’m not really in the business of asking anyone.” Dani said.

  “Beverly and I are going.” Rachel said.

  “Ooooh, you and Bev, huh?” Juno teased. “Y’all been talkin’, what, two months now?” Juno asked.

  “Just about. Whenever we went to the game together we started talking.” Rachel said.

  “Y’all are too cute.” Markus said. “Wish I could find me a girl to bring to prom.”

  “Ah, buddy, you’ll find someone eventually,” Juno said, giving him a slug on his shoulder.

  They always had a playful friendship with each other. Almost always teasing. Sometimes it got so heated that teachers got confused and would try to break them up. They seemed like they’d fight at any time, but it was just the way they talked to each other.

  “What about that guy down your street, Dani?” Juno asked.

  “Ugh. He’s a fuckin’ douche. Yknow, he came to my house and just showed me a condom then got pissed off when I told him to fuck right off?” Dani said. “Dude’s a creep. I’m so glad he’s homeschooled. Fucking Richard, dude.”

  A wave of annoyed sighs or jabs towards Richard went around the table. “You know, the funny thing is too I’ve been hearing a rumor about him making some weird art online too. On one of those weird sites.” Markus piped up.

  “Which one?” He asked, through the mouthful of pizza.

  Everyone looked at him, eyebrows furrowed or just surprised.

  “Sorry,” He said, continuing to focus on his pizza.

  “I’ve seen his stuff.” Juno said. “It’s… weird.”

  “What kinda shit does he draw?” Rachel asked.

  “Nothing normal.” It seemed like Juno was not telling everything they knew, but didn’t seem to want to continue on that train of thought. “But Dani, what’s your dress look like?”

  Dani shrugged it off, and sent a picture of her in her dress. It was a dark grey with purple highlights in it. The highlights were lights that slowly went down the seams and pieces of the dress. Then, there was a hologram piece that came off and flowed with flowers like she was in a movie. Juno looked surprised. “It looks great. Fairytale shit.”

  Markus leaned over Rachel’s shoulder to get a better look. “You’re gonna make everyone look like shit, Dani.”

  “Better than mine, that’s for sure,” Rachel said.

  “Stop, y’all are just tryna be nice,” Dani said.

  “Nope, no ma’am. That shit is exquisite.” Markus added.

  “Got any anti-weirdo stuff to go with it? If some weirdo like Richard shows up-” Rachel started.

  “He’ll know what a woman’s fist tastes like and he’ll be drenched in a fountain.” Dani finished Rachel’s sentence, smiling.

  The laughter and such died down a bit, and as it did, Dani zoned out for a moment. As she did, she caught herself looking in a mirror across the lunchroom. It seemed to twist and turn in every which way. For a moment, she thought it rippled like... water? It looked like water. The image of her in the mirror shifted. It started to look back at her. Not like your reflection does, but someone-no, something acknowledging her presence. She acknowledged her presence if not for a moment.

  It didn’t move like her. Dani was aware of all the tiny, minuscule movements in her face and watched for them. This Dani did not. This Dani just watched. Dani forced a smile as she heard her friends laughing, but it was muffled. The mirror version of Dani did not. She kept watching.

  After what felt like a millenia, Dani blinked. The mirror seemed to sync up with her as she tuned back into the conversation. They were on some topic about recent politics or something. An advisor visiting Neo-Louisville. Dani wasn’t sure. But then it changed to prom again. Then graduation. Then a question Dani didn’t want to hear from Juno.

  “Dani do you know if they’re gonna talk about your dad?” Juno asked.

  “I… I think so, unfortunately. I wish they’d just. I dunno. Let it go.” She said, “It’s hard enough for my family as is. And we haven’t even come fully clean to Anthony about the reality of the situation. But I think my mom has to suck it up and finally just say it to him.” She said.

  “Huh. Yeah. Best not to leave that stuff hanging.” Juno said.

  Dani looked up at her, “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “It’ll be tougher for him when he realizes everyone has essentially lied to him for 2 months.” Juno said.

  Dani nodded. She agreed but, she didn’t want to admit to lying to her baby brother. She knows they should’ve said something awhile back, but, it wasn’t Dani’s place to make that decision, her mother made that very clear.

  “Dani. Have you heard what the news has been saying about your mom?” Rachel asked. Dani was shocked.

  “No?” She said.

  “Some… people. News people and all that have been saying your mom might have killed your dad and used her role as a cop to help her clear or cover it up or something.”

  Dani’s world seemed to spin for a moment. But then stop. She denied it in her head, and then vehemently denied it out loud. “No, that’s not possible.”