The Neon Run

My alarm clock chimed and shook on my nightstand. I threw my hand over to silence it. I had woken up approximately 30 seconds before my alarm, my body was used to waking up at this time on grocery day. I opened my blinds and was met with the purple haze outside.

It was November 9th, 2082, meaning 945 days since my planet ran out of air. We all knew it would happen sooner or later. Scientists had predicted we'd run out of air in 2072, so I'd consider us lucky. Everything here thrives on neon, one of the last planets of our kind. Our planet had a thick neon layer surrounding it that kept all the neon contained in our atmosphere until the infamous "cosmic tear" 200 years ago. During the Space War (the first one), a fission laser tore a hole through our neon layer, and it's been leaking air ever since. From that day, fission lasers became illegal all across the universe.

I hopped out of bed and went to my roommate's room to wake him up. Fungis was always a heavy sleeper. I know that Earthlings have a similar word, 'fungus' and from what I can understand, Fungis's name suits him well by your standards. He's someone you don't mind having outside but not so much in your house. Nevertheless, I pounded on his door. 

"Fungis! We can't be late." I yelled.

No response.

"Fungis!" I tried again.

"Fungis!"

"Shhh!" I heard through the door

"Fungis, it's grocery day. Let's go."

The door crept open and I saw one of Fungis's green eyes shine through the darkness. Thanks to all the neon, our eyes tended to glow in the dark. 

"Fungis I know you're awake, and you know we have to go." Space travel was safer with two people. 

"Fine, I'll be ready soon just start the car."

Fungis never woke up before 9 o'clock. He normally slept through half of our 35 hour days.

Before leaving the house, I put on my neon suit. A semi-fashionable form of protection against anything outside of the planet. I went to the garage and unzipped the door. Almost every door to the outside is a zipper today. It's just so much more practical; it helps keep as much neon inside as possible. I got into the car and waited for Fungis. A few moments later, he joined me in the passenger seat. It was hard to see through the haze this early in the morning, but it was necessary to get to the shuttle station on time. Fungis kept quiet through the car ride, as he normally did to catch a few more minutes of sleep. I parked the car and tapped him on the shoulder. 

"Remember to keep your mouth shut about your opinions when we get there," I said

"Yeah, I know," Fungis replied slowly opening his eyes

"Even on the shuttle." I reminded him

"Yeah, yeah," He got out of the car and I followed.

We waited on the bench outside for the shuttle. Two beings sat on a bench next to us. Hopefully, the market wouldn't be too busy. I felt a breeze against my suit and looked up. The shuttle was starting to land. Once its tires hit the ground, the doors opened and Fungis and I took a seat inside. Among us were five other Nebos in their corresponding neon suits, along with two Cepras from the planet Phiuq 91 who didn't need suits to breathe. Not many beings took trips to our planet, it was more of a "connecting flight" destination. We were all on a shuttle to Sizeron, home of the largest market in all of the universe. It was far, but their prices were worth the distance. The shuttle lifted off of the ground and beamed above my damned planet. I watch it get further and further away until it was a purple speck in the space around us. 

A female voice filled the shuttle. "We hope you enjoy your flight to-"

A robotic voice interjected "Sizeron." 

The original voice resumed "As always, thank you for choosing Retov for your journey."

No one spoke during the ride. I leaned my head against the window watching every planet fly by at warp speed. Before I knew it, the shuttle jumped, meaning we were starting to land. I nudge Fungis, who was again asleep. 

"Stay alert," I told him

He tried rubbing his eyes but his suit prevented him from touching his face. 

We hopped off the shuttle, which luckily tended to land in front of the Sizeron Market, the planet's biggest attraction.

It was the best planet to buy Nepax, the packets of Neon we used to pump air through our houses back home. In no need for a cart, Fungis and I headed to isle 4; Nepax was limited to one per customer. I grabbed the first one on the shelf. 

"Alright, let's get out of here," I said. 

"But we just got here," Fungis protested "Can I see if Joblovs are on sale?" 

I scrunched my nose. Fungis's favorite snack reeked of wet dirt and stunk up the house.

"Alright, but only if they're on sale." if I was going to fill my home with a foul smell, it better be half off. 

Fungis came running back into the aisle with three boxes in his arms. I sighed. 

"Three for one!" he beamed

"Yeah, no wonder." I murmured. I don't know what made him have an appetite for other planet's food. 

We walked up to the two aisles you must pass through to get to the registers. A somewhat annoying marketing ploy I assume. Within these two isles was everything you could imagine. There was a whole section of "Grow Your Own" kits; everything came in small boxes, but with the right care and supplies, you could grow almost any household items. Couches, TVs, the premium boxes even had pets. They were an inexpensive way to furnish your home, but it did take 2-8 weeks for some items to fully grow. Another part of the isle were all cosmetic noses. This sounds odd I know, but the beings from Sizeron grew about 7 noses that would slowly fall off with age. Many bought extra to look "younger", but their lives ended when their last nose fell off, making the product counterproductive to some degree. I spotted Fungis eyeing at a bottle of sasmoo. When you drank it, it made you levitate for ten minutes. 

"No," I said

"But-"

"Do you remember what happened last time Fungis?"

He hung his head.

"Need I remind you?" I asked

"No," He said sheepishly. The last time Fungis drank sasmoo he had the bright idea of jumping off of our house just before the effects set in. He ended up floating 15 feet in the air until it wore off and slammed him into the ground. The last section of the aisles were entirely weapons. All of them were technically harmless. There were mini stun guns as well as sleep grenades, that could make an entire room of beings fall asleep once triggered. 

A voice over the store intercom boomed.

"Attention all shoppers, our stock of Nepax has run out for the day. Please come back tomorrow if you need this product." Fungis and I watched an employee stick out a sign in front of the store signaling its lack of inventory. 

"Well, that's just ridiculous." I heard someone behind me.

I turned to see another Nebo, with a Nepax in his hand. 

"How are you the largest Nepax production planet and run out so quickly?"

"Is there a problem, sir?" a Sizeron Market associate came up behind him. 

I shifted to face my cart. 

"I come here every week for Nepax, and there is never enough for anyone. Sizeron must have more, they're just not giving it out."

I stayed quiet but pleaded with the man in my head for him to just to shut up.

"Sir, there's a Nepax in your hand. Do you not appreciate what you already have?" the associate narrowed his eyes

The man put a hand on his hip. He just was not backing down. 

"It's not fair for others. I just know your government isn't giving us all they can, so Nebos keep running back here every day."

"Would you like to file a complaint, sir?" I heard a click and turned around.

The associate was grabbing part of the man's suit with a pocket knife in hand, prepared to cut a hole. Doing so would kill the man almost instantly. Sizeron made most of its revenue off of Nepax, and its inhabitants didn't take lightly to any opposition. Then I heard another click behind me. Then I heard something clank in the distance. Seconds later, the room filled with a blue vapor making the associate and every non-Nebo being fall to the floor. I turned to Fungis, who had just deployed a sleep grenade. 

"Let's go!" He shouted

Every Nebo dashed out of the store, protected from the grenade's fog by their suit. 

We all hurried to the approaching shuttle, not caring about what destination it may take us to. Fungis lagged behind as he grabbed three more boxes of Joblovs before running out with the rest of us. The crowd piled into the shuttle that coincidentally would take us all back home. 

Again nobody spoke, but you could hear the heavy pants from every passenger on the bus. 

"You know we can never go there again, right?" I told Fungis

"Better than that guy getting killed." He shot back

I slumped back in my seat. "I guess you're right." 

There was silence for a few moments. "And we did get this one for free."

The flight back to the shuttle station felt quicker than normal, but the drive home felt longer. One less place to buy Nepax, I thought to myself as noticed Fungis asleep again, unaffected by the previous events of the day.