The sky around them rolled, spinning once, and then twice as he tried to right himself. Adam grabbed Conn around the chest and flipped both of them over so they were looking down. He couldn't see signs of the ground yet, and so took his cues from the wind that roared up to meet them. He spread three of his arms out wide like a starfish while gripping con with the other arm. Conn held out an arm as well to stabilize the others side, and together they floated through the sky like an awkward starfish.

Adam had thought about falling to his death plenty of times. In his line of work it was a near and present danger on more than one occasion. There were plenty of opportunities for his parachute not to open, or one of the lines to snap, or that the vessel he was in might fall from the sky. Either way it was a concept that he had considered on multiple occasions.

And as always, if he found himself falling to his death, he was gonna do some sick flips, and then orient himself head first, so that when he hit the ground he would die instantly. He had no desire to break al the bones in his body and then live the rest of his life as Frankenstein's monster pinned back together with rivets.

"Someone is being dramatic." Conn said mildly appearing inside his head uninvited as usual.

"Dramatic! I thought I was being rather calm considering the situation."

"The part where we are going to die is a bit dramatic, though by all means hug me closer."

He could just feel the shit eating grin on Conn's face, and considered pushing him away for a moment so he could die in peace.

"I wouldn't do that, considering I'm your one ticket out of death's greeting hall."

"What do you mean."

And then he remembered, "Oh duh."

"You said it not me."

Adam paused, "What are you waiting for."

"Waiting for a good moment, when I can actually see the ground. If we just fell into a realm full of sky and are going to be falling forever, than I see no point in trying to use this trick. A cloud rushed past beside them, plunging them into a landscape of white. Light filtered around them, and the clouds opened up just a moment later to reveal a cloud ceiling stretching on into infinity pillars of white fluff rising and falling from it's surface.

It looked like the artistic representations of heaven.

Of where he was going to be in a few minutes.

He flipped the two of them upright, pointing their feet down and rolling over so he was looking con in the face. They started to fall faster as they were more streamlined now, and Conn grinned at him with his sharp rows of little grinding teeth. His ribbons whipped out, "There's still a chance to kiss me before you die Admiral, tell me how you really feel."

"Not now Conn!." He snapped

The clouds opened up beneath them rendering the world below in patchwork.

Immediately, Adam knew where they were.

Earth,

Not the exact place on earth, but he would know the layout of those streets anywhere. The plant life, and the way the roads were built, all of it.

It was all familiar. It became even more familiar the closer they got to the ground , with the hovercars battling along through the streets, sky cycles, hoverboards. Drones passed below them in a lattice, and he worried that they might plow straight into one of them. What would the UNSC think, Finding Admiral Vir as sidewalk pizza.

"Can we get on with this." Conn asked mildly.

Adam was shaken from his thoughts, locking his arms around conn, over one shoulder and under the other armpit, "You better do it so I can hold on."

Conn did as requested, reaching down and adjusting his gravity belt.

Conn's artificial gravity belt was generally kept at zero Gs so he could propel himself around as if through space and keep his neck from snapping. Star born were susceptible to vertical G forces but surprisingly sturdy against lateral G forces. The two of them tipped forward like sky divers again, and conn reached down to adjust his gravity belt. Countering Adam's gravity. Conn didn't have any but as long as Adam did the two of them were a problem. The other issue was that the belt only worked on Conn, so he would have to reverse the Gs upwards to counteract Adam's gravity which was pulling him down.

He did it slowly as they approached the ground, and as he did their fall began to slow.

It felt almost like they were falling through water, gently floating downward.

Adam wondered what anyone looking up might think.

Right before they made it to the ground conn adjusted the dial back to zero, and Adam rolled off, falling the last five feet straight onto his back, landing in the grass of a sunny park. He grunted as the wind was knocked out of him, and lay there for a moment staring up at the sky and allowing his heart to slow while he continued to regain his breath.

Conn stood over him, blackout out the sunlight.

"Well that was fun." Adam grunted in mild disagreement as he stood up, shaking himself and looking around.

It was at that moment he realized where they were.

He knew this place.

He knew that cluster of trees, and that playground equipment. He knew that park bench and, poking his head out through the hedge he knew the houses that lined the street.

There was only one problem of course.

The images weren't completely right.

They were older.

The Hover car parked on the street was an early 4000 model T series, and the hoverboards he saw didn't come with the gyro belts that were required after 4020

What was going on here?

He watched a lady pass up the street pushing a stroller, and stepped out of the hedge his hand raised to greet her, "Hello, I'm sorry to bother you but can you tell me where we-"

She walked right past him without acknowledging his existence eyes staring straight ahead.

He frowned and shook himself running to catch up with her. He waved a hand in front of her eyes, but she did not react. When he reached out to touch her, he found that he couldn't.

He pulled his hand back in surprise, and stared after her as she continued up the street.

"Well that's interesting." Conn said, trailing after him, "No thoughts."

"So.... You mean where we are isn't real?"

Conn shrugged, "All I know is that I can hear your head loud and clear, but out beyond you there is nothing. If it weren't for what we can see, I would stay we were standing in a blank void the entire time."

Children's laughter broke on the other side of the hedge, and out of curiosity he stepped through and onto the other side to watch as the children ran in circles around the playground equipment, leaping off the highest points only to be caught by the gravity mat at their feet. Adam remembered those, they had been discontinued when he was a kid, because experts were finding more and more children dying or getting hurt from jumping off large objects thinking that something would catch them before they hit the ground.

It had been fun while it lasted.

Or so he remembered.

A boy raced up the stairs of the playground equipment and launched himself out into thin air hands spread. The gravity mat caught him before he could belly flop onto the ground.

He looked familiar.

Adam stepped forward.

A girl raced up the playground set, taller than the other, maybe 12 years old, and in her arms she was holding a toddler who could have been no more than wo years old.

"Maya be careful with your brother."

"I will, we were just going to go down the slide!

Beside her, another boy appeared at the edge of the playground equipment. He was a little more hesitant than the boy before him, judging the distance to the ground. When he jumped he jumped like one might jump off a rock and into the ocean.

"Sissy." The older boy whispered having charged up the playground equipment again.

The boy adjusted a too large pair of glasses nuh uh. Behind them a third boy was looking nervously over the edge, no more than four years old.

The first boy jumped again, and then turned to race back up.

The girl Stood at the edge holding her younger brother, the toddler, and when she turned Adam was able to see their faces.

Dark hair for the girl, long and billowing, reminding him of Eris,

And the boy, small with blond spikes in his hair , and big green eyes.

Conn paused next to him, "Oh.... Oh...."

There was a moment of silence.

"Look at you! So fat and chubby. Look at your feet." Conn began to laugh and Adam gave him the finger, approaching the playground equipment carefully as if he was worried about being seen. Despite Conn telling him it wasn't real, it sure did feel like it. he watched as Jeremy came charging up the steps, watched him slip as he tried to stop, and watched him run into Maya.

Maya lurched forward and flung her arms out to grab onto something.

In so doing she let go of him, and toddler Adam went flying out of her arms and off the playground equipment.

The children gasped, Maya screamed, Martha leaped to her feet.

And the small boy went flying flew the air, surprisingly unperturbed, caught by the mat, counted once, and then twice, before being deposited with a soft thud onto the grass butt first.

Martha and Maya ran over all at once, as did his other brothers, only to find the toddler sitting there giggling, "Again!" he demanded.

Adam flinched across time and space as Martha gave Maya and Jeremy a look.

His younger self continued to demand they go again, until his mother was forced to give in, insisting on bouncing him from only a few feet up and no higher, much to the toddler's annoyance.

Adam smiled slightly.

"I've never ben scared of height."

I can see that, "But lets not forget that there is one teeny tiny problem."

"How do we get out of here?"

***

Sunny leaned against the edge of the rift staring down into the sky. Their bodies had vanished many minutes ago but still she stared down into the abyss horror clenching her hands to the edge.

The rest of the room was silent with shock.

In the doorway stood a dark silhouette,

No one said anything.

Footsteps crossed the room and paused at Sunny's back looking over her body and into the sky below her.

"Don't worry little one, he will be alright."

Sunny recognized that voice, and whirled eyes wide.

Lanus smiled from where he stood, "It's been a while."