Lunar Love Letters - 2. Chapter 2 - Match and Matched

The shock of accidentally sharing so much of his personal information had been a rather rude wake-up call for Mike. He was usually pretty careful with what he shared online, especially as he was not ready to come out to his parents or too many other people. Or even worse, to be found out by stupid, Stupid, STUPID mistakes like these!

His already frayed emotions had gotten another big jolt from all of this, and Mike felt he was all kinds of jittery. He couldn't sit still for a single moment, and the walls of his small personal space, his bedroom, seemed to be closing in on him. In a nervous tick, his left hand kept squeezing the edge of his pillow. He had already figured out that, if there was one thing the counselors on the Moon would be continually busy with, it would be claustrophobic people. Actually, he had mentioned this to his school counselor, and she had confirmed it. That was another thing he hated, he had to endure weekly sessions with the school's counselor. She was supposed to guide him through his whole transition to living on the Moon, and his new school. So far, he did not feel it was doing him much good. After each session, he only felt more strongly how many things he was missing from Earth.

He got up from his bed and pressed the button to open his bedroom door. It swooshed open, sliding into the wall. It still looked rather spaceship-like to him, especially after seeing all of those old sci-fi's again. God, they sure loved their swooshy doors back then. It was a big joke to him to see how right they had been!

As he stepped into the communal area of their family living unit, he noticed that the bigger screen in here was still on. Usually, his parents would shut it down if no one was in the living room, which is what he had started to call this multipurpose room. It felt more convenient to him, and it sounded like a real Earth thing. He needed that, Earth-things. His parents just went with it. Even though they were big on doing things just like all the other 'Loonies'.

"Screen, show Earth," he asked the system. Immediately, the screen lit up and started showing a revolving planet Earth. About half of it was in daylight, the other half, 'the lucky half' he thought surly, was in nighttime.

"No, no, show me something on Earth!" he exclaimed. He had not intended to be even more confronted with the fact that he was in outer space. He wanted to see home. Exasperated, he asked his PA, "Show me home."

'Please specify, Home,' it dutifully asked, not having been provided these details yet. Even though it clearly had no problem forwarding all his other personal details, it would not access them itself, without clearance.

"L.A., show me the beach," he told his wristband.

'Would you like me to save this preference?' the wristband asked with the default metallic AI voice. It almost sounded as if it was whining to Mike. Eager to please, hoping to finally get what it wanted. All of his personal attention and details. He snorted, his PA was just like a dog! That made him think of another Earth classic, Snoopy.

On Earth, he had never bothered with a PA system. He'd have to carry it around with him all the time, and he hated it how his friends could get lost on it, loosing all touch with reality and the actual people around him. No wonder his friends kept calling him old-fashioned.

He sat down at the table and watched the screen cycle through various beach views. "Wait!" he yelled. "Go one back." The screen switched back to the previous live stream it had been showing. He could see the beach and the sea, waves slowly rolling in. People were lying on the beach, and walking past the camera's viewpoint, with their feet almost in the water. The sun was already low on the horizon, it must be evening. He figured the camera was mounted on a lifeguard station.

He took in the sight, and he was thinking to himself that the surf wasn't worth going out into anyway. The water was dead calm. And, of course, it was only then that he realized he couldn't go out to grab some waves anyway.

It didn't bother him enough to switch off the screen, he actually really liked looking out onto the beach like this, seeing other people. There were even some pretty hot dudes walking past right now, he almost tried to look around the corner of the screen, as if it were an actual window. Too bad, but at least the guys had lifted his spirit, and a smile could actually be almost seen. Lurking right there, in the depths of his sour expression.

He took off his wristband to get a better look at it. At least it wasn't a really flashy model. His dad had wanted him to get one with some kind of light effects! He did not need a disco ball around his wrist, thank you very much!

His mom, who had always known him better, had pointed out a much more subtle wristband. Smaller screen, but it did have a tiny projector in the side, which he could use to project something on a wall. A nifty little feature he had not seen before. It meant he didn't have to rely on finding a screen if he wanted to show something on a larger screen, other than the very compact screen on the wristband itself.

He audibly sighed, he really didn't want to do this, but he felt there was no escape. He'd have to set up his A.I. PA system some day, and he could just as well get it over with.

"PA, open settings and get ready for config," he told the wristband.

'System ready, please specify if you want to execute the initial setup or change current settings.'

"Run initial setup program."

After a moment and a short mechanical beep, the wristband showed on its screen that it was getting ready for initial setup.

'System ready for initial setup. Hello, Mike, shall we get started?'

"Yes, let's get this over with," Mike confirmed.

'Please, specify what you would like to call me.'

Mike had not yet thought of an actual name. He knew it was a hype at the moment to use all kinds of odd futuristic names, like Zora, IO, Zattrix. He couldn't see himself talking to a Zattrix. Then he remembered the puppy dog mood his wristband had just emulated, so eager to please. That was it!

"Snoopy!" he told his wristband, laughing at himself. He could imagine himself talking to a Snoopy, especially around people who wouldn't get the joke. He had a bit of a sarcastic kind of humor.

'Hi Mike, I'm Snoopy. How would you like me to sound?'

Again, not something terribly important, but he was getting tired of the almost dead mechanical voice he had been hearing so far. What would Snoopy sound like? As far as he could recall, Snoopy was a male dog, so it should be a male voice. But, as Snoopy was mainly a character in comics, he couldn't think of a voice to match.

'I can run a selection of voices for you to pick from, if you can provide me with some criteria to limit the selection,' the A.I. offered.

"Run me some male voices," Mike asked.

The wristband ran through a selection of deep male voices, reading a piece of text from some story Mike had a hard time recognizing. He was trying so hard to figure out from what story the text was, that he forgot listening to the actual voices.

"Moby Dick!" he exclaimed.

'Yes, Mike, the sample text is an excerpt from Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. Were you able to make a choice?' the still mechanical voice asked.

Mike realized he had not been paying the right kind of attention, he tapped his fingers on the table, trying to remember what he had heard.

"Can you run me some voices that are not so… deep. Perhaps something more from my own age?" he asked.

'I have not yet been provided with your personal data, please specify age range,' the mechanical voice answered.

Mike was getting frustrated, for an A.I., it was not being a whole lot of help. But he knew why there were so many limitations on what the A.I. could and could not access. It would be very easy to abuse his personal information if an A.I. system had free access to all data. Strict limitations had been incorporated when the first A.I. systems had been developed, to protect its users.

"Fift—, no sixteen," he corrected himself, slapping the table with his hand. He was still getting used to being sixteen. He had turned sixteen in his last week on Earth, it had been a very bitter-sweet celebration. With his friends there to celebrate, it had also felt like a goodbye party at the same time. It had been a very emotional night.

'Sampling male voices, ages fifteen to seventeen.'

The same piece by Herman Melville was being read aloud, now by voices that could have come from any of the guys in his class at school.

His ear picked up on a voice that sounded a little more high pitch than his own voice, and it almost sounded like a loud whisper. He felt like this voice would really fit a fictional dog that was gifted the gift of human speech. It was like hearing Snoopy's thoughts.

"That one!" he quickly told his wristband.

It immediately applied the preferred voice setting as it answered, 'Voice preference saved.'

The screen showed it was loading more settings, Snoopy's voice came back. 'Please specify personality profile.'

That threw Mike for a challenge. What would he like his A.I. personality to be like? He tried to remember what Snoopy had been like in the comics. How would you describe that? He was adventurous, like he imagined Beagles would be. And dogs are loyal. Then it hit him, let's see how good this A.I. is!

"Snoopy, access and analyze the comic character known as Snoopy and extrapolate a personality profile."

'Accessing… Accessing… Analyzing,' Snoopy informed him. 'Analysis complete, applying personality profile.'

The screen on his wristband suddenly changed. To his surprise, the normal windows all got a new appearance, the screen now actually resembled a comic. Square screens, a bit of a funky font. Bright colors. An image of Snoopy popped up with a text balloon, 'Settings applied.'

Mike was pleasantly surprised, he really liked the new look on his interface. He didn't need all kinds of swirly things and fancy window effects.

Snoopy's voice returned from the wristband's speakers. 'Hello Mike, I am so happy to meet you!'

"Hi Snoopy," Mike answered, already feeling enamored by the cute comic character. He noticed the Snoopy image on his wristband was now actually waving a paw.

'Mike, would you be so kind as to allow me access to your personal data? I promise to keep it safe!' Snoopy asked and promised.

Feeling more trusting of his A.I. now that it had a name, voice, and personality he liked, he gladly gave permission.

The Snoopy image on his wristband appeared in front of a bookcase and started perusing books, he figured they resembled his personal data.

'Wow, Mike, I think we will be good friends,' Snoopy said. 'I understand you are having some difficulties settling in here, on the moon. I would hate having to leave my friends as well.'

That surprised Mike, his A.I. had also studied his information and had quickly hit things on the nail. It amazed him how it had made such a determination as to how he was feeling, then he remembered the entries in his personal log, a kind of digital diary. Snoopy would have had access to that as well, seeing as he had granted his PA access to all of his personal data. He had logged so many entries about everything he hated on the moon, especially in the first week after arriving. Now, he'd perhaps have a bit of a rant only every few days.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he suddenly saw something strange happening on the living room screen. The Snoopy character from his wristband had suddenly walked in and was now leaning against the edge of the screen. It was a bit of a weird thing to see, a 2D comic character against the beach backdrop, which was now showing the sun setting down into the sea. Snoopy appeared to look out at the sun for a moment.

'It sure is pretty down there,' it said.

Mike looked at the setting sun and sighed. "Yeah, it sure is." His stare remained fixed on the screen. The light from the sunset was turning everything in the living room in a reddish hue. He hardly noticed that the interior lights started adjusting to enhance the sunset effect in the entire room, a little gift from Snoopy, who now had a much better understanding of what his owner, Mike, was feeling and needed.

As the sun finally disappeared into the sea, Snoopy turned back and softly returned the room's illumination back to standard. Suddenly, he held one paw behind his ear, as if hearing something in the distance.

'Mike, you just received a confirmation message. It's from a group called Mars Letters, they have confirmed your subscription and want you to know that your details have already been forwarded to several possible matches on Mars,' Snoopy told him.

Wow, several matches? Mike thought. He had not expected anything to come out of this, especially not getting multiple matches. Of course, he had no idea with what kind of people he had been matched, and if any of them actually wanted to get in touch with him. He was still hoping it wouldn't be some perv old guy, or a granny with a penchant for old sci-fi movies.

"Thanks, Snoopy," he told his A.I. Already he was warming up to the system, a stark contrast with how he had felt earlier in the day about the stupid wristband and basic A.I. system.

Mike got up and clipped the wristband back where it belonged, on his right wrist. He looked at it and noticed Snoopy had jumped back to the smaller screen. He was now lying on his back on his iconic red dog house, waiting for whatever his owner wanted from him. Without thinking about it, Mike rolled up his right sleeve a little, like he'd seen other kids in school do, to free up the screen on the wristband.

As he neared the door that led out of their living unit, it slid open automatically as he approached. Snoopy now had access to his location data as well, and would be able to automatically open and close doors as he walked up to them. A feature not available as long as a PA system was running on basic settings, to protect the wearers' privacy.

Mike walked out of the door and into the hallway. It wasn't a big hallway, three people would be able to pass each other, if they weren't too big. The ceiling was fully illuminated, casting a homogenous light over the entire hallway. Studies had found that people felt more at ease with homogenous light, like outside, instead of having lights dotting the wall all the way down a hallway. The designers of the Lunar had tried to employ every trick available to minimize the risk of mental anguish, or downright claustrophobia, as much as possible.

Without any particular destination in mind, Mike followed the hallway to his right and just started walking. Suddenly, his wristband vibrated. He lifted his arm and looked at the screen. Snoopy was there, waving at him and apparently trying to shout something at him. Instinctively, he held his wristband close to his ear, and he could now hear what Snoopy was trying to say.

'Mike, I was trying to catch your attention. I have no screens or audio system available out in the hallway, and I can't shout very loud out in public. You know, privacy rules. Could you please apply the ear patch, so you can hear me? You'll find it on the inside of the wristband,' Snoopy asked. An image popped up on the screen indicating how to detach a hidden patch on the inside of the wristband and where to apply the patch right behind his ear.

Dutifully, Mike pulled off his wristband and checked the inside. Yes, he could see the small indentation. He put his fingernail behind it, and he saw it come loose. He was only able to catch it just in time, before it had a chance to fall on the floor. It was a tiny square patch, very thin, and it took on the color of the skin on his finger. It had been metallic looking as it came loose from the wristband, he could hardly notice it now on the tip of his finger. He placed the small square behind his ears, where the picture had shown it should go. He felt the piece adhere to the skin behind his ear and let go from his fingertip. With a soft tingle and what sounded like a buzzing sound, it suddenly came to life as if it were right inside his head.

'Hi Mike, thank you for putting up with that sound tag. I know you don't like all that technical stuff. But at least, now you can hear me when there is no screen available for me to pop on to,' he heard Snoopy say. It sounded like Snoopy was right there, in the middle of his head, whispering.

"But… how?" Mike started asking, not understanding how he could hear his new friend. He hadn't put anything in his ear.

'Bone conduction,' Snoopy said, and Mike understood, it was hardly a new technique. The tiny patch was placed firmly on top of one of the bigger bones in his skull, and with carefully manipulated vibrations, his skull was now actually conducting the sound to his eardrums. No need to put anything in your ears and hardly anyone would be able to see the patch.

Mike slipped on his wristband and noticed Snoopy was now talking into an old-fashioned phone. 'You got another message from those people from Mars Letters. I'm sorry to say that you are down to only two possible matches. They hope to inform you later today if any matches remain to start corresponding with.'

On his screen, Snoopy got a letter out of his pocket and appeared to be studying it. 'I do like you getting all old-fashioned, back in my day, pen pals were a big thing!'

Mike had not considered how much his Snoopy A.I. would know of his own history, but the system appeared to be smart enough to incorporate that information as well into itself.

"Well, let's just hope those remaining matches don't pull the plug as well," Mike said, feeling a bit depressed again. His spirits had actually lifted a little, the prospect of multiple matches was somewhat exciting. But hearing most of those had apparently already turned him down in less than half an hour, well, that was not exactly an ego-boost.

Turning another corner, into a larger hallway, he noticed his feet had carried him towards the school district. It being the holidays, hardly anyone was around. As he continued down the hall, the ceiling opened up and when all the way up to the top floor of the school, four stories high. He could see stairs, corridors, and balustrades connected the now closed and empty classrooms on his left. To his right, a large transparent wall showed the inside of the gym. The wall was made of a transparent kind of metal. He did not fully understand the process through which they managed to make metal transparent, but it was much, much tougher than glass and had allowed for a much more open design in the Lunar colonies. A glass roof would have been somewhat risky, but a strong roof of thick transparent metal was even strong enough to withstand the impact of micrometeoroids. Even though some still left a nasty dent. Glass would have simply shattered. It also allowed for the construction of solid, strong, transparent walls, like they had done with the gym.

Mike could see there was a Loony ball, ehm, Lunar ball competition being played at the moment. They were younger kids, if he had to guess, he'd say they were thirteen or fourteen. The girls appeared to be dressed in red, and the guys in blue. He figured they were playing guys against girls. He stood still and continued watching for a while. As he counted players, he noticed the girls had one player more than the boys, and the boys were getting crushed!

One of the boys, with short dark hair, dripping with sweat, stood on the sideline for a moment, close to Mike. He was clearly trying to catch his breath. Looking behind him, he noticed Mike behind the glass wall. He tried shouting at Mike and motioned to Mike's wrist.

'You have an incoming close range contact, would you like to answer?' Snoopy asked.

Mike figured the incoming call was from the boy on the other side of the glass partition, who was clearly trying to tell him something. He couldn't hear a thing. "Yeah, go ahead, connect," Mike told his PA.

Immediately, he heard someone panting inside his head, right where Snoopy had been a moment before. Now he could actually hear the guy on the other side of the wall.

"Hey, want to do us a big favor and help out? We're short one guy, and we're getting squashed out here!" he heard in between pants. It was as if the guy on the other end of the wall was suddenly right there, in his head. It was a surreal experience.

Habitually, Mike almost shrugged the request off. Why would he help out, he didn't know them, did he? He looked again at the guy asking, well, guy, he was just a boy. He'd guess fourteen, one of the older looking boys on his team, perhaps the team-captain. His short dark hair was soaking wet. In the lower gravity, sweat didn't just drip down, it clung to your skin. Mike had already found that out after a couple of gym lessons. You really needed a towel to get properly dry again.

He's cute, Mike caught himself thinking, looking the boy up and down. He looked at the other kids in the gym, they had all stopped playing, there was a break in the game. Probably the mid-game stop. It'd only last for fifteen minutes, Mike knew.

"I don't have anything to wear," Mike objected.

"No worries, we've got some spare kits in the changing rooms. Should have something your size as well," the boy said, looking at Mike now and realizing he was a bit older and taller than the rest of his team. "I'm Chris, by the way," he introduced himself, waving his hand from behind the glass.

"I'm Mike," he automatically responded, introducing himself. "You go to school here?" he asked.

"Yeah, duh, it's not like we have any other school here in Peary."

"Sorry," Mike said apologetically. "I'm new here."

"Oh, an Earthling!" Chris exclaimed. "I was born and raised right here in Peary colony," he continued. "Wait, you do know how to play, right?"

Mike nodded, and then remembered he could talk through the transparent wall. "Yeah, I got the basics explained in gym. Can't promise you I'm any good, I can't get the hang of running along the wall."

Chris nodded in understanding. He waved his hand at the other end of the wall, "Come to the door, I'll open up and let you in. We'll get you dressed. Hurry, we've only got a good ten minutes left!"

Mike realized that he had silently agreed to help the boys out. Well, to be honest, he had let the cute boy convince him through his enthusiasm. Also, he had to admit to himself, he liked that this was the first time he was actually asked by anyone here to participate in anything. Nobody from his class had made any attempts at including him on anything.

He dashed forwards, almost tripping, before realizing that running here was something different from running back on Earth. He reached the door and tried it… still locked. He couldn't see Chris, but he could still hear him in his head, "Door's open." Trying again, the door swooshed open this time.

Chris quickly shook Mike's hand, it felt all wet and clammy, Mike thought. Next, he was virtually dragged into the changing room. He'd been here three times now, during gym lessons.

Chris was already head down in a chest with clothes, throwing out different blue shirts. They slowly drifted back down to the floor. Finally, he seemed to have found what he was looking for, and he turned back around to Mike.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get undressed!" Chris said, motioning for Mike to hurry. "We've only got a few minutes left before we need to be back inside."

Mike had a bit of an inside chuckle, he thought it hilarious that he'd only known Chris for a few minutes, and he was already being told to get undressed. Pushing the dirty thoughts from his mind, he quickly took off his shirt. Next his shoes came off, and, as he turned around to take off his shorts as well, he thought of something. He would have to lose his underwear as well. His skintight underwear was what was keeping him pinned down to the floor, and he'd have to be able to move freely if he was going to play Lunarball. All of a sudden, he wasn't feeling as amused about getting called to undress.

He looked back at Chris and noticed the boy had once again turned around and was head first in the chest with spare clothes. From the pieces of clothing he flung out of the chest this time, he appeared to be looking for a fitting pair of shorts.

With no eyes on him for the moment, he quickly took off his undershirt, and immediately he felt as if he was getting lighter. The nanofibre in his shirt were what was getting pulled to the floor, and taking it off, he dropped a lot of his weight. Only his tight-fitting underwear was keeping him pinned on his feet, but they had much less pull than his shirt had. With an audible sigh, he dropped his shorts as well and was now left with just his socks. Those hardly contributed to the fake gravity he had been feeling.

With a triumphant roar, Chris reappeared from the chest, turned around, and his mouth dropped open in shock. Seeing a mostly naked Mike was not what he had expected, didn't the guy know that it was only shirts off for Lunar ball!?

Mike saw Chris' astonished expression, and he felt alarmed, "What!?" He quickly asked.

"Dude, you are supposed to keep your undies on! You only take off your shirt. You do need a bit of gravity to move about."

Mike turned beet red and realized his mistake. The guys in his class hadn't told him, but it did explain the snickering he'd heard from behind hands and outside the door of the changing room. Come to think of it, yes, he had been the only one to fully undress before they had had their two Lunar ball lessons. Bastards!

This time, it was Snoopy who interjected his thoughts, 'Sorry Mike, I should have mentioned this as you got undressed. I was not aware you did not know about this, as you said you knew how to play.'

"No worries," Mike answered his PA, forgetting that Chris would not have heard Snoopy talking, which led to another confused look.

Mike pointed at his wristband, "My PA," was all he said. Chris understood, being much more used to Personal Assistant systems than Mike was.

Realizing he was still standing there, naked, one hand still covering his privates, he grabbed his undies from the floor. Chris politely turned back around and Mike quickly pulled up his underwear. Tucking everything where it was supposed to be, he let the elastic snap back against his skinny stomach. He'd have loved to make claim to having fantastic abs. And, to be honest, there wasn't an ounce of fat on him. But, alas, he was just plain old skinny.

Hearing the elastic snap, Chris figured it'd be safe to turn back around, and he was glad to see his new acquaintance was covered up and all decent again. He had not minded seeing a naked guy, he had seen plenty, but it had been… awkward. He didn't know the guy, and he was older. One or two years, he guessed. He tossed the white and loose fitting shorts toward Mike, and they slowly drifted over to him.

Mike grabbed the shorts from the air, quickly pulled them on, and he was just getting into the blue shirt as they heard a short blast on a whistle, the one-minute left sign.

Stepping into his shoes, he rushed out after Chris into the gym, and they headed over to where the rest of his new team was. Chris made quick introductions, and then he instructed his PA to add Mike to the team's comm-group. Accepting the invited, he immediately heard the four other boys not just through his ears, but also right there in his head. It was a bit disorienting, they had never done this during gym class, but he could see how it would help, having good team communications in place.

All five of the boys headed toward the center of the gym and the referee, who Mike recognized as one of the gym teachers, was holding the ball. The girls stood opposite them, and they looked fierce in their red shirts. If Mike had been thus inclined, he'd definitely been awed by them. They looked real fit, and their shirts appeared to be perhaps a bit more tight than they ought to be.

Fortunately for Mike, he was not thus inclined, and he was not getting as flustered as some other boys in his team apparently were. He heard some whispered banter on the comm group, with remarks on how well fit the girls looked. Sighing, he thought how bad the boys were being affected by their hormones, and they should just focus on the game. As he said that, his own eyes remained glued to the back of Chris's shorts, almost mesmerized. Suddenly, he was broken out of his trance as the shorts he had been studying jumped way up into the air, trying to catch the ball the referee had just thrown up into the air. Fuck, Mike thought, he was just as bad as the other boys!

He ran out, making himself available to receive the ball. In the low gravity, they could throw or smash the ball over very long distances. It required superb aiming, and a lot of running, as everybody had to cover considerable distances. The school gym was one of the largest structures in the colony, largely due to the popularity of Lunar ball. And the fact that the powers-that-be thought it of vital importance to keep the people entertained. They gladly invested in the large structure and the huge power and oxygen requirements the large gym imposed.

As Mike looked over his shoulder, he was surprised to see that Chris had actually taken possession of the ball, and in his head he heard Chris' voice shout out his name. Startled, he almost stumbled. He was close to one of the walls, and to slow down, he twisted a little and ran part way up the wall. Turning around, he could see the small white ball hurtling at high speed towards him, and he quickly had to decide if he was going to catch it and run on, or smash it back to somebody else. Not seeing any of the other boys in a free position, he jumped away from the wall, so he could snatch the ball from midair. On Earth, he'd have been afraid to break his neck with a maneuver like this. He was twice his own height from the floor below him, and soaring through the air. In his head, he heard Chris yell, "Roll!"

Immediately, Mike made himself as small as possible, guarding the ball between his arms and stomach. Rolled up like a hedgehog, he started spinning in midair as he slowly came down again. To his surprise, his landing was quite soft, and he just continued rolling for a bit, before he was able to regain his balance and get back on his feet.

He glanced back over his shoulder as he continued running towards the opponent's hoop, where he'd have to throw the ball through to score a point. All other players, both girls and boys were well behind him, he had a free run towards the girl's hoop. There wasn't even anyone guarding it, a glaring oversight on behalf of the girls. He turned back and made a mad dash on the last stretch to the goal. With a big jump, the hoop was placed much higher on the wall than a normal basketball hoop, he jumped up. Still having his strong 'Earth-legs', accustomed to much higher gravity, he easily reached the rim of the hoop and dunked the ball in.

He could hear loud Whoop Whoop's through his comm set. And through the sound of the cheering boys, he could even hear Snoopy yelling excitedly. He didn't know his A.I. could get excited from a sports match!

The girls had now reached him as well, and they successfully grabbed the ball as it came down the hoop. They started running back towards the boys goal and Mike firmly planted his feet on the floor. With just his shoes, socks and underwear giving him some additional pull on the floor, he felt his feet skid a moment as he tried to get momentum for running. Finally, he felt his shoes getting enough grip on the floor and his strong legs propelled him forward like a cannonball.

Now, despite Mike's huge interest in all things sci-fi and space travel related, he had forgotten for a moment that any speed he got, he would also have to lose. So, as he shot forward across the feel, passing first one, then two girls, he was still going full speed when he passed the halfway point. Still trying to go as fast as possible, he now got close to the girl running with the ball. With his racket, he managed to free the ball and smash it to one of his teammates. At this point, he realized the voices in his head were all yelling at him. Telling him to brake! BRAKE!

Looking ahead again, he saw the wall rushing up at him, and he didn't have any chance of slowing down. All he could try was to redirect his momentum, so, in a mad attempt, he jumped as high as he could. This resulted in Mike rushing at and up the wall. He felt the impact on his knees as he planted his feet on the wall, and his forward momentum tried to carry him straight through the wall. He was able to take the impact on his legs, and as he pushed off again, he managed to do a full flip against the wall, landing back on his feet on the floor.

Completely flabbergasted, he just stood still for a moment. The rest of his team was already running back with the ball towards the girls hoop, hoping to score another goal, which would tie the score.

'Mike, are you okay?' a worried sounding Snoopy asked in his head.

All Mike could do was nod, he was exhausted, he had not had a proper exercise in weeks. Actually, he had not really put much effort into any kind of exercise since arriving at the Moon. And he had been quite active back on Earth, primarily with skateboarding, surfing and hiking. He loved going out all alone.

Fortunately, the PA was able to register Mike's nod, and Snoopy was relieved. His wristband buzzed and Mike quickly glanced at it. On it, an instant replay was shown, showing from one of the gym's cameras how Mike had almost flown up the wall and how he did a full flip, landing on his feet like a well-trained gymnast. Which he certainly wasn't, at least, not to his knowledge.

"Thanks Snoop!" Mike whispered, soft enough for it not to be picked up on the comm group.

The game continued on without much further antics, the boys even managed to get another goal, pulling slightly ahead of the girls on the scoreboard.

When the whistle sounded sharply with two blasts, the game was ended, and the boys team realized they had actually won!

They ran towards each other, Mike included, and smashed together into a big group hug! With all the other boys this close, Mike noticed everyone was literally glistening with sweat, covered in a layer of perspiration. As the boy smashed together, some large drops were thrown free, spinning around them and slowly dropping back to the floor. He couldn't get over how weird water looked in low grav!

Even though he had had some naughty thoughts about Chris before, and hadn't been able to prevent ogling his great form during the game, he was just enjoying the sheer joy and excitement the group of boys was experiencing right now. He felt fully included, for a moment.

As the boys broke away, three of them headed straight for the changing rooms, leaving Mike and Chris in the gym. The girls had already disappeared to their own changing rooms.

"THAT… was amazing!" Chris exclaimed, again pulling Mike in for a hug. Mike was beginning to get a bit of an awkward feeling now, with all the guy-hugs he was getting.

As Mike returned to the changing rooms with Chris, two of the other boys were still getting their soaking wet clothes off. From the sound of it, one of the boys was already in a shower cabin.

As water has a few unfortunate tendencies in the lower gravity of the moon, like getting into everything as water spray just drifts everywhere, shower cabins were fully enclosed cubicles in which water is sprayed from the top. Suction fans suck out most of the rogue water droplets down the bottom into the drains. Where it is quickly whisked away to the water reclamation systems.

On Earth, during gym class, Mike had had to endure the stress of showering together with all of his class in the open plan shower areas. Leaving pretty much zero percent privacy and one hundred percent excessive hormone production. He had managed to avoid getting seen with a boner, most of the time. But, as pretty much happened to any guy, he hadn't been able to dodge them all. And where for most guys the jokes about getting a hard on over other guys was just a joke, for him, it had had a bit of a bittersweet after-taste. It hit a little close to home because he actually did get a boner from looking at all the other guys and getting confronted with a meat fest. So, Mike had to admit, this was one thing he felt was an improvement on the Moon, private shower cubicles after gym!

The quick dash in and from the shower didn't pose a problem. The other two boys finished stripping, grabbed their towels and headed to their shower cubicles. There were ten available, five on each side. He had not yet had a gym class that had been strenuous enough to require showering before heading to the next class, but as he had understood it, it meant that everyone showered in two shifts. There simply weren't enough cubicles for all the boys in the class. If you weren't quick enough, you had to wait for your turn.

It was just Mike and Chris now, and Chris was already down to his socks and underwear. Mike quickly followed suit and started getting undressed as well. He couldn't help but glance a peek as he noticed Chris dropping his undies, and was pleasantly surprised from what he saw, before Chris quickly dashed off for the showers. Not bad, for his age.

Mike mentally chastised himself, the guy probably wasn't even gay. Get your mind out of the gutter!

He physically shook his head to clear it, grabbed his towel and went off to his own cubicle. He had left the towel on a rack outside, and, as he closed the door, the shower automatically engaged. _Shit! _ He had forgotten all about his wristband. He tried to get it off quickly, but heard Snoopy in his head.

'Don't stress, it's waterproof.'

"Oh, thanks!" Mike exclaimed out loud.

From the cabin next to him, he heard Chris, "Did you say anything, Mike?"

"No… Yeah… Sorry, my PA again. Forgot to take it off," he answered, a bit flustered.

"Don't worry, they're waterproof," Chris said, almost echoing what his PA had just said as well.

The shower was hot and exactly what Mike needed right now. He felt his sore muscles relax in the heat of the scalding water, he had turned the temperature up high.

A beep on the wall alerted him that he was almost through his shower allotment, water was still a precious commodity on the Moon, despite the excellent water recovery systems. He switched off the shower, and immediately a blast of hot air hit him from above, quickly drying most of him and blowing most free water from his body down the drain. He ran his hands through his dark long hair to get most of the water out of there as well.

Shutting off the air dryer, he exited the cabin and noticed he was the last one out. One of the other four boys had already left, the other three were still getting dressed. To his shame, he had to admit being disappointed that Chris was also already in both his undies and his undershirt. He quickly used his towel to get as dry as possible, knowing he'd never get his hair really dry as long as he kept it long like this. Still, he was not prepared to go short, like most people on the moon did. He liked his wavy long hair.

He went to his clothes and started getting dressed as well. As he was pulling up his shorts, he noticed Chris was still there, even though he was already fully dressed. He had expected he'd leave as well, like the other guys had.

He pulled his shirt over his head, a black shirt with a vintage Battlestar Galactica print on it. His shorts were more like cut off black jeans, some frayed bits hanging loose. Most of his wardrobe consisted of just one color… black. Though he did like prints on his shirts, even colorful ones.

Chris was pretty much the opposite. Wearing shorts as well, which were almost white, and a shirt that had a kind of metallic print on it. Very futuristic looking. It almost hurt his eyes in the bright light of the changing rooms.

"You ready?" Chris asked.

"Ehm, what for?"

"To get out of here, of course," Chris answered.

Chris had surprised Mike yet again, he really was waiting… on him. Okay, odd.

He stepped into his shoes and was ready to go. He just had to figure out what to do with the soaking wet blue shirt and white shorts, he looked around the changing room.

"Toss them down the laundry chute, blue and reds are school clothing, they'll clean it." Chris said, noticing what Mike was struggling with.

Above the chest, from which the clothing had been retrieved, a wall-mounted panel had a big sign on it, denoting it to be the laundry chute. He pushed against it, and the panel opened up. Air was sucked in, it was clearly a pressurized system that sucked up anything dropped in it, to deliver it wherever the laundry was getting done.

That problem solved, Mike followed Chris out the door, and they were soon walking down the hallway. It looked like Mike had finally made a friend on the moon!

***

Like any human settlement, there is one thing that is practically always present. A place for shopping and commerce. People seem to have an innate need for shopping and a place to socially gather while doing it. So, just two years after the foundation had been laid for the Peary crater colony, the first mall area was built. Back then, there had even been a pizza place, serving actual pizza, with actual cheese. But when the ban on cheese was implemented, that quickly died. People just were not into pizza with cheese substitute, would you be?

Still, there were plenty of shops in what had been dubbed the Luna Mall. Clothing stores had found a place, gift shops, as there were always tourists visiting from earth, food places, there was even an arcade!

The boys had found their way to the Luna Mall, and, after a very brief discussion, they quickly headed over to the arcade. A very popular hangout for most of the younger people on the moon. Chris immediately ran into one of the boys from the Lunar ball team, now dressed in a cacophony of color. That seemed to be a fashion thing on the moon, dressing in very bright and loud colors. It kind of hurt Mike's eyes, he preferred keeping it simple, and black.

The arcade itself was as bright and loud as the fashion sense of its occupants. The place had a real retro-feel to it, all the games were housed in old-timey arcade machine housings. Even though the screen, controls, and effects were top-notch and of the current era. As Mike looked around, he could see games with hologram characters fighting, kids in VR goggles and a harness that held them just a bit above the floor, allowing them to run around freely. He figured the lower gravity made that especially easy.

They moved towards the back, and they arrived at a kind of lounge area. There was a bar at the end, with a big flashing sign that no alcohol would be served to underage patrons. Beanbags were scattered around, a lot of them filled with kids of all ages. Most of them had their eyes glued on the screens of their wristbands, but some were actually engaging in real live conversation! Much to Mike's surprise.

Chris found a spot where they could sit together, not too close to the audio system. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to hear each other, this place was loud!

"So, have you been here before?" Chris asked.

Miles chuckled, "You do know that's the worst pickup line, ever! Right?"

Chris held up his hands, that was not what he had meant! "No, no, not what I meant, at all! I don't even… you know," he started whispering, "swing that way."

Mike's heart felt like it had been dropped from a mile high cliff. Secretly, he had been harboring just a little bit of hope that Chris did like guys. If not necessarily him, he'd at least have found a kindred spirit. He tried his best not to show how he really felt, reached out and hit Chris on his shoulder. "Of course not! Just yanking your leg!" He felt like he was showing the most insincere smiles ever shown, but Chris didn't seem to notice and just took his joke for regular banter.

Mike took his time to look around the place. This was way different from he had expected. If he had known places like this existed on the base, he had perhaps spent less time locked up in his room. He looked back at Chris. Having regained a bit of his composure, he felt he was finally ready to answer his new, young, friend. "Nope, never been here. But this feels a lot like any regular arcade back home. You know, on Earth."

Chris shrugged. "Never been on Earth, I wouldn't know. I was born here, even with the gravity suits, I'd have a hell of a time adjusting to Earth gravity. I can't even imagine what it would be like, I'd be five times heavier than I am here at home! You know, the Moon."

Mike didn't miss Chris's remark on the Moon being home. It probably was home, now, even for him. But he was still not ready to accept that. In his mind, 'back home' was still back on Earth.

"Know of any other good places around here?" Mike asked, trying to steer the conversation to safer waters. And Chris sure did! There didn't seem to be an off switch, now that he had started talking.

The boys spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the arcade, they even tried their hand at some games. Chris easily beat Mike at everything, except for the flight simulators. Mike had a real knack for flying games and staying oriented in a 3D environment.

Mike was startled as his wristband suddenly vibrated. He had just gotten off a treadmill, which had led him around a virtual course of hurdles. With his strong legs, he had easily jumped over each, and he had reached a top three score.

'Mike, incoming call from your mother,' Snoopy said in his head, right before putting the call through.

"Honey, where are you?" his mother asked, sounding worried.

"Hi mom, I'm downtown, in the mall. I made a friend, Chris, and he's showing me around," Mike answered. He pointed his wristband at Chris so that the camera could take a quick photo. His Personal Assistant, Snoopy, arranged for the photo to get delivered to his mother's comm device.

"Aww, that's cute!" his mom answered, Mike cringed. Cute was not what he liked to hear, not at his age.

"Okay, you just have a great time! I'm glad you're out of the house for a change," his mother said.

"MOM! I'm not home all the time. I have school, and stuff," Mike didn't want to come over as the sulking sad teenager that he actually was, not in front of his new friend, Chris.

"You know what I mean, Mike. Anyway, you have fun, and feel free to get something to eat over there. It's almost dinner time. Treat your friend as well, dinner's on me," his mother said.

Mike saw Chris's eyes light up at the prospect of getting something to eat at the mall. It'd be a nice change from the standard meals he often had at home, like most people. Regular food on the moon tended to be a bit… bland. Food in the mall was typically made with imported goods, herbs, and spices. And there were fancy things, like ice cream!

"Thanks, mom, we will!" Mike said. He waved at the screen on his wrist, showing his mother at the other end of the connection. His PA was smart enough to understand that that would be a good moment to end the call.

Chris was now practically jumping from excitement. "I want fries! And ice. And a burger. Oh, and lasagna!"

Mike was trying to keep up with the bouncing Chris. It took him a moment to register that Chris had mentioned lasagna.

"Wait, wait!" he yelled. "Lasagna? They have pasta here?" His mouth was already salivating at the mere possibility that pasta might be on the menu.

"Oh yes, there's an Italian food stall. They have all kinds, as long as you don't want any cheese on it. And don't try to go for the fake cheese, it is AWFUL!" Chris said excitedly. "Most of it is imported and just reheated here, but it's still way better than what you'd normally get for dinner."

PASTA! Mike felt a tiny ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. He held out his hand to Chris, "Lead the way, oh bringer of good tidings!" he said, laughing.

Chris didn't wait for a moment, and didn't hesitate to grab Mike's hand. He dragged Mike along, out of the Arcade and straight into the food court. In the back, on a teeny tiny stand, a big Italian flag was painted. Chris deposited Mike right in front of it, and a big bellied man appeared to get the boy's order.

Mike glanced over the menu. There wasn't much choice. Lasagna, Spaghetti, Macaroni. Some different sauces. But he didn't need much more than that. He gulped as he noticed the prices that were listed next to each meal, glad his mother was picking up the tab on this one. He ordered a large spaghetti with meatballs for himself, and Mike went for a medium lasagna. Jokingly, he told the man behind the counter he didn't need to eat as much, as he wasn't as skinny as Mike. The man looked at his own ample belly, and then he looked at Mike, thin as a reed. All he could do was shake his head.

He pointed the boys to a table and told them their order would be right up and get delivered to their table.

After only five minutes, a cart painted in green, white, and red appeared with two steaming plates of pasta on top. It maneuvered itself to the boys' table, where they grabbed their plates and started digging in. There was a packet of the dreaded fake 'cheese' on the table, but Mike wisely followed Chris' advice. He wanted to avoid spoiling the first meal of pasta he had had for over a month! And, he had to admit, it was divine. He had missed this so much!

After a while, with the plates mostly empty, the boys looked at each other. They burst out laughing, both had big red smiles painted on their faces. Eating pasta with red sauce in low gravity was quite a messy business. Chris scooted his chair over so that he was now sitting next to Mike. He held his wristband and angled its screen at them. Mike caught on to what he was doing, and quickly leaned in closer for a selfie.

The screen on Chris' wristband lit up brightly, an image was captured and after a moment it got displayed on the screen. Chris swiped his finger over the photo, as if flinging it at Mike.

'Image received, you look awesome!' Snoopy alerted him.

The pasta had been plentiful, and despite Chris' earlier bragging, there was no way he was going to fit in fries or burgers. They did decide to get a cone of ice cream each.

Just as Mike had gotten his ice cream, and started licking, his wristband buzzed softly.

'You received a message… from Mars,' Snoopy informed him. 'You got matched!'

Thank you all for the kind comments on the first chapter! Writing something sci-fi related has long been on my wishlist, and I feel I am finally at a point where I can tackle a subject that is much more out there, and less reliant on my own personal experiences. I love researching all the little facts and technical tidbits. I also take a lot of inspiration from the many sci-fi shows and movies I watch myself. I can totally get lost in minor details like how difficult it might be to eat pasta in low gravity, or how water works in zero or low gravity. Just let me know if I go overboard on those things.
Oh, and I hope you like Snoopy, you can't believe how difficult it was to formulate a relatable character for an A.I. system. I'm even more awed by sci-fi writers now! Personally, I love Snoopy and I can see him and Mike going places. I'm sure Snoopy will help Mike get over his hangups on technical gadgets.