ANDROMEDA Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/322552/?page=1#post-3326279 help - If you happen to cross a number in the story, go to the "word help" label if you would like to see what the word that is attached to the number means. Example: They were two magnificent¹ creatures. 1. Magnificent means great, grand, or majestic. +++ Chapter 2 There was a neighborhood complex in the Official District, two on each side. It was really just a circle of houses, and then a road leading up to each door. Every house was the same. GoRdon opened up the garage like a door to the entrance of the house and then walked outside. A gust of heated air broke through the door as it opened, and I breathed in the scent of rain. Grey clouds crackled overhead, forming across the almost red sky. Another storm was coming. Good thing I was going to be on the rings for duty, and not out in the hot rain. I strutted over to the side of the house and unchained a bike tied to a pole. GoRdon took out his own, letting it hover over the sandy road. I pressed a button on top of the handle, and two metal wings expanded out of the bike, the wheels turning in, replaced by two spiraling fans. GoRdon raised his eyebrows at me. “It’s not like we’ll get in trouble. I did invent it, so it is my property. And, hey, what’s a little good in flying?” I vaulted over the bike, resting my legs in front of the wings, and turned the handle to follow the road. “More like hovering,” GoRdon mumbled behind me, but then turned on his bike to flying mode and chased after me. Sand kicked up in my face as I zoomed down the curving road. A crack of thunder rumbled ahead of me, and I felt a sizzle on my neck where the first drops of rain fell onto my skin¹. I pulled the collar of my jacket up higher and then sped up the bike. The large arch in the wall appeared, towering over the storage complexes beside it. The arch was the gate to the Industrial District, which held the only way out of Terraton. GoRdon had caught up to me and was already pulling on a helmet. Oh, right. That’s what I had forgotten. I pulled out a black square out of my pocket and pushed the button in on the side. The square unfolded, revealing a visor and then it was surrounded by the rest of the helmet. I pulled it on, just as the storm started up. The light-red raindrops pounded on the visor, and then slid off like it was ice. I pulled on fingerless gloves, and GoRdon followed. “I am so glad we’re on the rings today,” he said from underneath his helmet. I nodded. We finally reached the gate to the outside of Terraton, the gate that led to the spaceport. The two guards, both posted out beside the gate, stepped up to our bikes, and I pushed on the brakes, slowing to a stop. “Halt!” one guard called, his eyes barely visible behind the tinted window. “Seriously, halt? Where are we? The Comet ages²?” the other guard, a girl elbowed him, smiling from behind her helmet. “Haha. Very funny.” The guard glared. “I thought it sounded commanding.” “Commanding.” Her gloved fist hit the guard’s shoulder as she repeated him. “Passports?” She turned to us. “Oh, yeah.” GoRdon fumbled around his pockets until he found the slip of paper covered with glass. “Here you go, GiAnna.” Oh. GiAnna. GoRdon’s sister. I had forgotten she had gate control today. “Thanks,” GiAnna said, taking the passport and pulling out a scanner. She let the red light hover over the glass for a second, and then handed the passport back. “You’re good to go,” she said after checking mine, too, and then pocketing the scanner. GiAnna pressed a button on the side of her helmet, and the gate opened smoothly. I hopped back onto my bike and switched it back onto flying setting. GiAnna and the other guard both backed off to the side again, and GoRdon and I rode out towards the deserted part of Terraton. The road went on for only about a minute when I spotted the structure ahead. I had been to the spaceport almost every month, but I still felt amazed every time I saw it. There was the waiting room, right in the entrance, which was a giant, purple glass dome. It stretched out to make a rectangle, where the spaceships could be boarded. It was almost like an airport, the idea that KYan Caverly, from the Industrial District, had invented. But then the spaceport took over, which was a lot more helpful. The spaceport was actually what had created the other two districts. GoRdon glanced at me from his speeding bike, and then flew past me, kicking sand into the air. I coughed, and then followed, the rain pounding down on my back.
