"I just don't get it, it's a beverage shop... why do they need one on every few streets," I narrowed my eyes at the building "And why the same one each time...are they not selling the same thing?"

"Well, look who's just discovered capitalism."

"What-is?" I frowned, "Is that the name of the beverage they sell?" I glanced at the cup I had gotten from one of the stores a couple streets down "I don't know Astra, I'm pretty sure the human called this a coffee."

"I don't think this is what Tempest meant when she said to infiltrate the human base," Astra sighed pointedly, even though she held a cup of her own too, tucked safely into the elbow of her broken arm. Hers was pink though, I forgot what they'd called it but I watched it being made and it was the juice that was mixed around very fast in a machine.

"She never mentioned how greedy they were, it's curious how such an evil species could be so interested in drinks," I shook my head sadly "Quick to dehydrate is an unfortunate trait to have. Poor things."

"Evil is a strong word," She snorted.

I turned to her "Would you prefer planet colonizers?"

"I would prefer if we'd find out where we're supposed to be right now."

"That's a trick question," I turned back to face the neon sign of the store "We're both meant to be behind bars."

"I don't think Sergeant Callaway and Dr. Mhklali are supposed to be in jail right now," She told me, looking down at her wrist "The communicator Tempest gave me has some directions but I'm not sure if they're to their homes or their workplaces. The latter would be better."

"Well, we'll never know unless we follow them."

I didn't know what I expected from the human base, maybe I thought the bolts holding the walls together would be messy and unevenly spaced, that the metal used to pave the floor would change in thickness and color as I continued to walk further inside it-rushed, I thought it would be significantly more rushed.

But here I was standing in a building that looked like the product of months, maybe even years of intense planning. Tempest had taught me last night that the humans were never allowed to build when they visited and if they were to stay for long periods they were to stay in the Martian homes or sleep in their ships.

Yet the ceiling was lined with plants, with holes small enough to let the dominating air component carbon dioxide enter so that the plants could produce what I learned that the humans needed to breathe, oxygen.

The rows of buildings were purposefully and equally spaced, placed with such precision that it could only be the product of intense planning and dedication. Tempest had described it to me like they'd ambushed them out of nowhere and built as quickly as they could but seeing all of this I doubted that.

Maybe the humans had come in a rush, but they certainly had planned on what to do when they got here.

"I think...this is it," Astra suddenly spoke up after leading us around corners for a few minutes. We'd decided that the most practical way of concealing our handcuffs was to hold hands, or rather, hold our chains and clasp our hands together to conceal the metal.

I glanced at the silver twenty-seven imprinted on the door in front of us, beside it were other similar doors, the numbers increasing in one direction and decreasing in the next. We had to walk up at least five staircases to get here and there were a couple more going up, lucky for us the Dr and the Sergeant chose a wise place to live.

"Great," I narrowed my eyes at the smooth white, painted metal. Completely smooth aside from the blue LED lit-up number on the door. "How do we open it?"

Astra took a step and eyed it before letting go of my hand and raising hers "Maybe there's a button, to press-" The communicator on her wrist glowed a bright green and suddenly the LED lights around the twenty-seven flashed the same shade of green.

We both watched as the door shifted back before splitting down the middle and dividing, waiting for us to enter. Only once we had both entered did it close back up, leaving us in a dark room that lit up as the door closed.

I eyed the slight mess of clothes on the floor whilst Astra stared at the framed portraits on the desk sitting right below a large mirror, we both began to wander in opposite directions until we were yanked back. I rubbed my wrist, scoffing "You can't even see the pictures right now, let's go explore the actual room."

She removed her helmet and shook her hair free "I'm not blind, just kinda," She defended "And besides I led us here perfectly fine."

"I didn't know bumping into seven walls was perfect navigating."

She gaped like a fish before rolling her eyes "First of all, I bumped into those walls because I turn corners very sharply-

"I didn't know pillars exist around corners-

"Second!" Her voice cracked slightly "These people are slobs."

This turned my attention to the bedroom we had walked into. I reached up slowly to tap the side of my head, the metal sliding straight off it. "I just refuse to believe they live like this."

Astra elbowed me in the side "Obviously they don't!" She hissed but I could also see the slight discomfort on her face as she looked at the dishes piled in the side of the kitchen that was just around the corner. "Maybe they," She kicked the shirt that was in her way "Were in a rush?"

I frowned at the strung-out bed sheets that were half off the mattress and half on the floor "Yeah...a rush."

"Hey, we shouldn't judge!" She interjected, pushing bright pink panties off one of the seats and out of sight "We did just steal their identities."

"I can only imagine what horrors wait for us in the bathroom."

My words caused the both of us to freeze and our eyes to drift down to the chain joining us. The bathroom. The one thing we hadn't thought of, lucky for us we needed to relieve ourselves yet since we got handcuffed but that was going to become a very soon reality.

"Yes," Astra glanced at the closed door, which could only have one thing behind it "The bathroom."

"I need to shower," I admitted. The scent of the sweat, layered on top of the sand and dry blood was not pleasant to my nose nor was it comfortable on my flesh.

"Me too," She avoided my gaze "And I've needed to pee for like the last three hours."

"That's," I winced "Fair."

She let out a breath "Sol how are we going to do this?"

She wasn't talking about the bathroom thing, that was a small part of the much bigger problem that we were both ignoring. We might as well have been sown together by the flesh and whether we liked it or not by the time these came off of our wrists we would know each other on a level that most lifetime friends hadn't achieved.

It was going to be her and I, together, not a second apart, for the foreseeable future.

We were going to have to fool everyone from this point forward that we are who we claim we are and whilst juggling doing that flawlessly we had to find a way off this planet.

Maybe this would've been easier for any other two people yet our circumstances made us strangers. Not knowing anything about each other but our names but that would soon change too.

Because from here on out there could be no secrets between us, literally. Being dishonest with each other may cost us our lives.

"I don't know."

I could tell she appreciated my honesty, it probably made her feel less alone. To know that I had no idea either but we were just going to have to figure it out, we had to. "Let's um," She sd her lips together "Pile all the dirty stuff in one corner of the room, maybe this place has cleaners of some sort that we can give it to but for now let's try to get this mess out of sight."

I didn't reply to her but helped her out as we slowly began making the room a lot more easy on the eyes. I stopped her from opening the curtains but agreed to let in some air from the windows.

She argued that no one could see us from this height but I was not keen on taking the chance.

A more confident me would've probably fought my way the the first ship in this dome, and gotten us out of her within hours. I with no abilities and am unsure of what to expect however...not so much.

"See, look how much more," She struggled to find words looking at the tidied-up room as we stood in front of the mountain of dirty items we had found.

Let me just say, Dr Mhklali and Sergeant Callahway are nasty.

"Habitable?"

She shook her head "No I was going to say tolerable," She bit her lip "Maybe if we find their closest we can look for other blankets to put on the bed and we're going to do the dishes later but I guess for now this will do."

"Great," I began to zip down my suit making her eyes snap to me in alarm "I can finally take that shower I've been waiting on."

The tension my sentence left in the room was broken by a sharp sound at the door followed by a robotic voice. "Delivery for Sergeant Callaway."

I sighed, pulling the suit up my shoulders again before nodding at her to go answer it "After you Sergeant."

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