She came from the wrong side of the Spanner. So he was immediately curious about her. She had a different look about herself. Edgy. Colorful. Fun. Somehow, she was gorgeous, too. Long limbs. And oversized head. Hair sprouting from both sides of her face. It was a package so ungainly that it worked to pull him in and give him something to fantasize about and imagine doing things with.

Of course, she had absolutely no idea that he even existed. How could she? When she crossed the Spanner every day, going through the checkpoints, showing her card, waiting in line, and undergoing the deep scans, she was simply doing what she had to do. She had to work to eat. She had to eat to live. That was all there was to it.

He was in a position of power over her. How could he not be? He never wanted anything. As a citizen of the Bowl, he was already on the right side of the Spanner. He didn't have to work more than the simple tasks he was assigned to maintain his supremacy. He didn't have to want for anything. He ate well. He slept well. He never crossed the Spanner to take in the Belt's squalid sights of the Belt so he had never experienced the long wait times and the personal indignity of crossing over. People came across the Spanner to him. He never went across to them. So when his obsession kicked into full, he didn't know how he got to her. She could always come to him and his position. But he was intrigued by what her life was like outside the Bowl. And part of his fantasy world was showing her how cool he was in another world. He thought for sure that he could make her his new one.

Queen loves Jedi

Two men leaped from the front of the car. Their two wives got out of the back.

"Well, guys." Easton looked up at the big house. "We finally made it home."

One of the women, Margot, wrapped her arm around his. "We sure did."

"You wanna go in first, East?" The other guy, Harry, asked.

"Why not?" Easton headed up the path to the door.

Luna went with him. He opened the door and was greeted by a robot.

"Good evening." It beeped. "Master and Lady Jones. Is there anything I might get you for dinner?"

Luna glanced at Easton in pleasant surprise. Harry and his wife Margot came into the house behind them.

"Greetings." the robot rolled over to them, seemingly forgetting its question. "Master and Lady Edwards. Is there anything I can serve you for dinner?"

"Chinese?" Harry asked.

"Sure. Fine with us." Easton replied.

"You remember what I can't have?" Margot asked her husband.

"Yes, dear." He said. "Order something Chinese. But nothing with onions, mushrooms, or cucumbers."

The robot buzzed. "Order in at China's Place. I prescanned everyone, so meals are set to everyone's standards. Is there anything else I may do for you before I charge?"

"Me and Luna are okay." Easton said.

"Same for us." Harry whispered.

"Good. I will be ready to serve again in two hours." The robot rolled away from them and backed into an open section in the wall.

"Well, exploring time?" Harry wondered.

"Heck yeah. I call upstairs!" Easton ran in that direction.

"Not if I get there first!" Harry raced after him.

Luna and Margot laughed with each other at their husbands.

The two couples explored for a few hours. The food arrived halfway through and they ate it all within thirty minutes with light conversation. Then they got ready for bed. Easton and Luna curled against each other.

"Rate today one to ten." Easton said.

Luna considered for a second. "Eight."

"Only eight?" Easton almost laughed. "I would totally give today a t-"

The room lights flashed on. "INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT."

Luna gasped and leapt out of bed. "Oh my God."

Easton glanced between Luna and the door. He slipped out from under the covers and crept over to the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" Luna hissed.

"I'm just peeking." Easton opened the door a crack.

Luna huffed and paced the floor worriedly. The alarm continued for another second then shut off. A scream and gunshot suddenly echoed down the hallway. Easton threw open the door and sprinted toward the sound. Luna trailed behind hesitantly.

He opened the bathroom door more than the crack it already was. The cold tile floor shocked him; as well as Margot's body lying there with blood already pooling around from the small holes in her chest.

"Who would do this...?"

Easton noticed a black handgun on the counter and cautiously picked it up. Luna pushed past him and crouched by her friend's head, Margot's eyes still wide open with terror.

"What the fuck did you do?" Harry growled suddenly. "What the fuck did you do?!" he shook Easton violently.

"He didn't do anything, Harry." Luna defended her husband. "We just got in here."

"I don't believe you." Harry's voice was hard.

Easton put the gun down. "Believe me, we just got in here."

Harry glared at him. "I would if you didn't kill my wife. She was going to have a goddamn child for fuck's sake."

"Cut the bullshit, Harry." Easton growled. "We just got in here."

Harry backs up. "I'm getting out of here. I'd rather die than live with a murderer. I can't believe I called you a friend a few hours ago."

Luna stood back up straight and tried to stop him. Harry spun around and slapped her across the cheek. She staggered back and touched the mark gingerly. Easton pulled her close.

"Both of you can fuck off." Harry snarled. "I'll never forgive either of you for this. My future family will know to hate the Jones's, you can count on that."

"You heard the alarms too, Harry. It wasn't East." Luna's voice was dripping poison now.

"Ha, funny excuse. Control your wife, Murderer." Harry turned around and stormed away.

Luna took a step after him, but Easton pulled her back.

"It's not worth it. We just have to get rid of the body properly and clean up. No one else has to know..."

"York!" her mother yelled up the stairs. "Dinner was ready ten minutes ago!"

York groaned and pushed her chair closer to her door. She pulled her headphones down and yelled back. "I'm not hungry!"

She rolled back to her desk and crunched on a Cheeto. Her mom started coming up the stairs. She heard the footsteps and panickly shoved the Cheeto bag into a drawer closeby.

Her mom's face poked into her room. "Cheetos aren't dinner, York."

York froze and finished licking the cheese off her fingers. "Come on, I'm honestly not that hungry. I mean, can't the robot butler just bring it up here?"

"Family time is important." Her mom scolded. "If you eat up here, you'll end missing time you'll regret not spending with your family. Your siblings are even down there."

"They're, like, five and six though!" York protested.

"So that makes you not have to be there? Because you're sixteen?" her mom folded her arms.

"Exactly!" York tossed up her hands.

"You know what? Fine. You can go to bed hungry; but you better not come complaining to me later when you're hungry." her mom disappeared.

York sighed and put her headphones back up, taking the Cheetos put again. Her mom reappeare, snatched them away, and left again. York groaned and hit play on her music again.

Listening to music was York's life. Every second she spent listening to it; pop mostly. The rest of her life was homeschool and meals. And every so often a meeting with the Edwards, the family across the street. Her dad had told her the story of him and his friend, Harry, who was the dad of the Edwards home, when she was littler.

The Edwards were the opposite of the Joneses. They lived with no tech or AI at all; it's like they were going back in time, with their dresses and suits and short-cropped haircuts. And they only had one son, Jett, virtually the most annoying boy to ever walk the earth. His smooth, chilling voice always made her want to hit him, even if she felt something for the guy.

Knock sounded on her doorframe. York reluctantly put her headphones back down again.

"Yes?" she called.

Instead of her father or mother, their robot zipped into her room.

"Lady Jones." it greeted. "Your parents requested me to tell you there will be a meeting with the Edwards in thirty minutes. They require you to be downstairs soon."

York rolled her eyes. "Got it, whatever. You can go back to charge or something."

The robot buzzed with the order, but didn't move.

"Would you like me to set you a timer, Lady Jones?" it asked.

"No, I would like you to go away. I'll be down there when I can." York put her headphones on her desk and got up to push it out.

The bot still didn't budge. She gave up and went over to her window. She opened it and in came her robin, Pip, who instantly nestled in the crook of her neck.

"Allow me to remove that for you." the robot rolled closer.

"What, no. You're not getting rid of Pip." York tried to hold the bot back.

"I must." the robot reached its arm up.

York rolled over the bed and kept from squishing Pip. The robot continued to pursue. Pip chirped and flew off her shoulder.

"Pip?" She watched the robin in confusion.

Pip dive bombed multiple times, the bot trying to snatch her out of the air. The bird dodged it's arm and landed on it's head, cooing softly.

"I must get rid of p-"

York stopped it's arms. It glanced at her and gave up. Pip chirped victoriously and returned to York's shoulder.

"See? No threat. Now go charge, I'll be down in a sec." York pointed out her door.

It rolled away and down the stairs. She gently Pat Pip's head and moved her to her desk. She yanked her shirt off and put on another one under her uncomfortable jacket that her parents always made her wear to the useless meetings.

"I'll be back soon, Pip." she left and closed the door behind her.

York went down the stairs and one of her younger sisters leapt at her.

"Sissy, they're not being nice." Ira pointed her finger at mom and dad.

"Who, mom and dad?" York asked.

"No," Ira pointed again and mom and dad walked out of the way to get their other siblings in line. "Him."

Jett rocked back and forth on his heels and whistled. York narrowed her eyes.

"I'll go tell him to leave my little sister alone." she told Ira and put her down.

She made her way over to Jett and tried to seem angry.

He noticed her and smiled. "Well, finally decided to join me, huh?"

"Don't act so natural around me." She reminded him. "Ira told me you weren't being nice to her."

"I wouldn't call accidentally tripping her not being nice. She walked into my foot." he said.

York resisted laughing. Instead, she pushed him into the wall behind him, trying to look furious. "Your voice is still irritating."

"I would expect." he whispered. "Wanna sneak out?"

"I do, but we shouldn't." she replied. "One of my siblings could catch us. Or the robot."

"I have plans if that happens. Come on." he pulled her toward the stairs.

They slipped up the steps and went to her room, shutting the door. Pip chirped in greeting.

"I don't like you." York told him.

"And I don't like you." he kissed her.

"You're not good at not liking people." she said when he pulled away.

"I know, but you're worth it." he smiled.

"That's sweet." She kissed him again.

Pip flew up and landed on her head.

"I didn't know you had a bird." Jett commented.

"This is Pip." she pat the bird's head.

"That's an adorable name." He smiled again.

"Why thank you." York smiled with him.

This was a good life. Who knew two people with entirely separate lives would end up loving each other? Not her, that's for sure.

"Who are you talking to?"

Different planets, different families, but the same love. Whenever our relationship almost gets revealed, we would always say “Feuds forbidden.” It was our way of saying that no matter what happened, we would always be together. I won’t lie, teleporting secretly through dimensions is kind of hard. But we managed. And we love each other. There is one thing we haven’t figured out yet. It is how we are going to break it to our families.

“Do you find it easy to meet and make new friends?” Janeway asked.

“Let me tell you about my mother?” Pyewacket said gruffly with a sudden lurch towards his interviewer.

Terrified the teen girl scrambled backwards. Her open backpack toppled from her chair as she nearly fell to the floor. At turbo speed the Android jumped over the desk and grabbed Janeway before she tumbled from her chair.

“Sorry Beautiful it was just a line from an ancient flick. I was trying to lighten the mood not break your collarbone,” Pyewacket said.

“Unhand me you you gray pile of tin cans,” Janeway hissed.

Pyewacket leapt back gracefully and the girl landed on the library floor with a surprised groan.

Added Pyewacket, “how’d you like that gravity meat bag?”

Mr. Wilkins the social studies teacher poked his head into the door. He took in the newest student, the first android to attend a saturnine high school, standing arms folded and Janeway Parks, sophomore class president, chair captain, yearbook editor, and secretary of the junior Junior League, sitting on the floor. The teacher’s eyebrows raised.

“Everything okay in here. Miss Parks are you in need of assistance?”

“No I’m fine sir,” Janeway said from the floor.

“We were just discussing Bladerunner and Janie here was acting out the fight scene. Good stuff!” Pyewacket said.

Confused mr. Wilkins backed from the doorway. Smirking Pyewacket offered her a hand. Janeway slapped away his hand.

“This is ridiculous. Why are you here!”

“You know my story Janeway. It was in the news. I was damaged during the civil war—“

“Android insurgency,” Janeway mumbled retrieving her fallen items.

“I lose much of my memory to an head injury and I wanted to try to experience growing up finding myself.”

Pyewacket leaned on the desk. He rubbed his new youthful face. He reached for the words to explain the cognitive dissonance. The meaning slipped away.

“What are you doing in high school?”

“To …learn,” the android said.

“You’re a damn machine. You could learn from video chats. What are you doing in my school!”

“We all could learn from video chats. But high school offers something … unique.”

Standing Janeway scowled at him. Pyewacket lifted the desk with a finger and nudged a paperback clear with his foot. He saw it was a vintage Philip K. Dick short story collection. The android swoped the treasure up and examined the cover of metallic men against a psychedelic wasteland. The teen grabbed the book and the android held it for a second before letting go. And understanding surged between them until Pyewacket pummeled over to his side of the table.

“Surely my adorable meat bag you ready to administer this ridiculous test to determine whether in the right fit to join the cheerleaders?”

“Are you more comfortable making decisions based on facts or based on intuition? And don’t call me Shirley.”

Pyewacket paused and then laughed out loud. Janeway hid her grin behind her hand. Mr. Wilkins peeked in again. Ms. Freeman tapped her colleague’s shoulder.

“How goes it? I know Pye was so nervous.”

“Okay I guess if I didn’t know better I would think they were flirting,” Wilkins whispered.

They met at Buwan, the exclusive Lunar disco club catering to the wealthiest of the wealthy. Junna Zuckerberg, the 17 year old daughter of the family behind Meta-Gates Conglomerate , and 18 year old X4LE Musk the 23rd (pronounced Kyle) of the MuskCorp fortune, have fallen in love for each other. Two adolescent scions of families behind bitterly competing interplanetary corporations, there romance was doomed from the start. The Zuckerberg and Musks have been in a feud for millenia, starting from agreement of the founding elders to duel in the early 2020s, before the rapid colonization of the solar system.

Junna and Kyle, like all children of upper society, had a growing interest of pre-space travel earth literature. And their minds were rife with high romance and adventure. The politics and corporate wars meant little to them, as both had a few years of freedom before their arranged marriages. The two lovebirds didn’t anticipate that love was still a thing that modern humans could feel. After-all, upper society has evolved through genetic engineering and a merger with cybernetics. Emotions were not but a fancy, to be initiated and shit off for fun.

Despite the numberless swathes of humanity scattered in a vast diaspora across hundreds of star systems, Earth, somehow, remained at the centre of interplanetary politics. In some ways, after the great conflicts at the end of the twenty first century, now mostly the stuff of historical myth, the primary concerns of the Earth Federation divided between the economic interests of the two massive megacorporations: Veridion Systems, a tech conglomerate with a near-monopoly on advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, and Aether Dynamics, which owned the vast majority of interstellar energy resources and space travel technologies. The rivalry between these two titans had grown so intense that, once again, Earth teetered on the brink of disaster and had become a battleground for corporate espionage and covert warfare.

It didn’t look that way though, to anyone visiting from some far off distant planet. The blue planet was a sparkling jewel in the blackness of space. Every inch a triumph of what can be achieved with limitless energy and resources mined across the vast galaxy. The city of New Verona was a megopolis of towering spires, of metal, shimmering crystal and glass that reached to the very limits of the bio domes. Although it looked clean and largely empty from a distance, the streets were alive with people hover-transports, vendors and glistening ads, yet underlying this gloss remained the ancient rivalries of corporate greed.

Romeo Montari was an exceptional cybernetic engineer who worked for Veridion Systems. His skill in neural interfaces and nanotechnology had gained him a reasonably prominent position in the company's R&D department. While that might all sound very exciting, actually his days were spent optimising the productivity of autonomous bots and creating more intuitive AI systems. It was mundane, routine stuff, whilst he was one of the very few people that could do this sort of work, he knew it was, at best tedious. More often it was just plain dull, and Romeo felt trapped by a corporate culture that prioritised output over innovation.

Juliet Capella was a great astrophysicist and rising star at Aether Dynamics. Her research into optimising quantum energy converters was transforming space travel, and her name had become synonymous with cutting-edge innovation. Juliet, despite her high reputation, also felt trapped in the system and had an unrealised need for anything beyond her company's strict regulations and bureaucratic constraints.

And, as is sometimes the way, these two met each other at a joint corporate conference designed to discuss a contentious merger proposal that sought to combine two minor departments of both companies into a single, conglomerate - cybernetic mining bots. Really, it was not their sort of thing at all. Way, way over their pay grade. The summit was intended to be a diplomatic event, but tensions rose. Romeo and Juliet, both being so-called ‘subject matter experts’ found themselves in the same circle of talk among the CEOs, engineers, and diplomats, each dressed in their corporate attire.

Their gazes met over a holo display showing the most recent advances in biotechnical integration. For a brief time, the management weasel speak fell away, and they were reduced to two people alone in the world. They met properly over the lunch buffet. Their chat began with technical jargon but rapidly moved on to more personal topics - dreams, aspirations, and their dissatisfaction with the rigid limitations of their respective organisations. Their conversation was noted by the system of course and they were both reminded, rather unpleasantly, that they were simply not allowed to fraternise. Their companies were in competition. It was not on.

And so, as young people do, they did everything they could to meet as often as possible. In secret, naturally, which added spice to the mix. But their growing romance was not without risk and young people in love cannot hide it for long. The firms, ever vigilant about their employees' allegiances, became wary of the couple's growing closeness. When a secret probe uncovered their covert encounters, Romeo and Juliet faced considerable scrutiny from their respective security forces.

The true test occurred when the merger proposal reached a critical point. A hidden sabotage campaign coordinated by competing factions within each firm seeking to profit from the dispute threatened to spark an all-out cybernetic war. Romeo and Juliet, in that warm glow of young love had decided together that the world would be a better place if the two firms were no longer competing. With all the idealism and foolhardiness of youth they determined to take action. They pooled their knowledge to develop a groundbreaking technology essentially share in an instant everything each company possessed, pooling the intellectual property. No secrets, no competition is what they reasoned. They unleashed their cyberphage.

And all hell broke loose. It turned out that none of their ideals were actually true. The reason the companies existed was purely and simply to give people a side to be on. Humans can’t manage life without something to believe in. It all went horribly wrong. Due to the fact that they had proudly published their grand plan for all to read about, Romeo and Juliet got the blame and there was a great deal of blame.

Tragically, as they tried to hide from the ensuing pandemonium, Romeo and Juliet were apprehended by corporate enforcers. In their final moments, they sent a message of solidarity and an end to the senseless corporate conflict that had claimed their lives.

Their sacrifice was, like almost every other grand sacrifice in the long history of humankind, in vain. The revelation of the truth prompted no widespread reforms, and the divided Earth remained divided. The story of Romeo and Juliet became a metaphor of the futility of human connection and the inability of individuals to overcome entrenched conflicts. And as the decades passed, their names became synonymous with the notion that love and truth might actually alter the course of history, but more likely wouldn’t.

Greta knew she could never tell anyone about her first love. Not when he was the crown prince, the son of her fathers enemy. Prince Arros of planet Rulia, the gladiator of planets. His family’s air ship had landed right in the middle of a farmer’s crops destroying the majority of his crops for the coming season. They had stepped out with a sizeable force of trained soldiers armed with advanced weapons the locals had never seen before.

“We have come to speak with your king” The military officer in charge had explained and then from there the tension only grew. More ships from the planet Rulia arrived each bringing new soldiers, which made Greta’s father,the king, grow skeptical. Once the Rulian soldiers and the crown Prince had established a small encampement, it was time to meet with the king.

That’s when she him for the first time, he strode into the front gates as if he owned the place, a confident stride up the castle stairs. He caught glimpse of her before entering startling her on the balcony connected to her bedroom. She rushed downstairs, curious to see them arrive so she snuck into her usual spot where she could eavesdrop on her fathers conversation.

She heard the tense discsuin between her father and the prince as they discussed the possibility of alliances and treaties. Her father was stubborn and possessive of his land as he declined firmly with no hesitation. The prince seemed to resign his true thoughts and Greta watched his polite retreat with a sly bow.

He strode out of the room with no sign of defeat. Greta followed him, making sure she could not be seen. He made a detour right outside the castle, heading for the gardens instead of the road back. He was alone which surprised Greta, she thought a crown Prince would be heavily guarded. Especially in the castle where her fathers guards would not hesitate to protect at any cost. Even if it would trigger war. She held back hidding behind a large stone statue watching what his next move would be.

“I know youve been watching me princess.” He said with a smirk. His handsome dark features made Greta catch her breath, her heart racing at being caught. Instead of fear she felt, excited.

“Come out I won’t harm you.” His tone was alluring and it made her feet move to his will. She stepped out into the garden, her pale blue dress flowing around her in the wind. Her pale blond strands of hair whisped around her in the breeze. The moonlight lit her soft features making her look ethereal.

Arros looked at her like she was the only woman he had ever laid eyes on. He took in every detail of her and saved it in his memory.

“You are the Prince of Rulia are you not ?” Greta asked already knowing the answer.

“Yes indeed I am and you are the Princess of Oraj.” He gently lifted her smaller hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it , looking into her eyes all the while.

“A pleasure to meet you. I was here to speak with your father and I must say you are way more charming than he is.” Arros joked releasing Greta’s hand slowly, his fingers lingering a second longer.

“My father is very set in his ways. It is hard for even his royal advisors to sway him on any matter.” Greta explained knowing her father’s personality all too well.

“I am not so easily deterred, rest assured I will return but It may be a little more convincing next time.” His tone grew serious and the princess stilled.

“Don’t worry I will not hurt him that would create many problems for me. I plan to simply show him that he cannot refuse my offer as it’s in the best interest for his people.” Arros tried to choose his words carefully.

Then in the following months there were reports of encampements all over the lands. More of Rulia’s military force coming in large flying ships. Greta’s father grew antsy. He prepared for war, for a fight for the lands, not for peace and partnership.

Greta met with Arros twice a week when her father left the castle for his meetings with the great council, a mix of scholars, stregists, and leaders of the planet Oraj. She met him in the garden as usual and they spent their nights walking the grounds together and discussing their lives. They confided in each other with time and then one night while in the royal greenhouse they shared their first kiss.

That night they made love among the flowers and the plants. They also decided they would fight harder for each other. If they wanted a future where they could be together without restriction they needed their people to reach common ground. They made a vow that night that they would not stop until both their people lived happily together.

The lovers were snuggled together looking up at the stars from the windowed ceiling of the greenhouse. They basked in the post coital glory and shared secrets and kisses under the night sky.

“I will fight for you my love. I will fight for us.” Prince Arros whispered in Greta’s ear and she shivered.

“And maybe one day we can be the king and queen of these lands together.” Greta”s voice carried lots of hope for their future.

I fell for you the instant, I saw your funky rainbow hair My metal spikes were glowing, who is she from there

Our distant planet didn’t really have visitors or even lights The days were dark and the sky system had evil fights

It seem that our family from a sphere, didn’t have the fear Your team of life gambled, and lost and left away from here

The blame game went back and forth like human tennis game Since then the fighting ones have really never been the same

I who am half human, and don’t really get to choose my life They don’t understand that we arein love, and I want her as my wife