"What do you mean you stopped working?" Kelvin was fully concentrating on the console screen mashing button combos on his controller.

"Do you think I love to feel miserable?" Max's character was taking a beating, stuck in a defensive pose. Whenever he went on the offensive, Kelvin was relentless with a barrage of physical and special attacks. One-sided would be an understatement. To cap it all off, adding insult to injury, there was a tailored gore filled ending sequence that cemented the end result, as if the HP bars were not indicative of the difference in experience. Kelvin's enthusiasm didn't exactly help to make him feel any less hapless.

"I guess I am already feeling that way," Max was not even trying to mask his tone of utter resignment. He had thought he had got better after many previous rounds. This was not the idea of fun he had in mind. He had challenged Kelvin to a best of three with a good level of confidence. Kelvin became a different kind of a beast in face of a challenge in his domain of expertise. He probably was offered some pity wins to make it seem like it was even before. It was a bad idea.

"If this was all I did all the time, I bet I could have taken you on blindfolded with one arm tied to my back," Max held back from swearing, gripping the controller a bit hard, the desire to yank it on the desk increasing by the minute.

Kelvin couldn't stop laughing as the frustration added to the hilarity of the whole situation. He tried to hold back his laughter, ending up almost teary eyed. This was the most fun he had in quite a while. He usually played alone in the café on alternate weekends.

"We don't have many around. Don't break them, please."

Max placed the controller as lightly as possible back on the desk, but it still made a thud that made Kelvin flinch a little.

"Is the trip still on?" Max was awaiting the answer with cautious optimism. He didn't need it. He didn't mind to be on one either.

"Yes, it is. Fortunately for you, I don't like being stuck here forever."

"Outdoors is fine and all. But do you have some indoor hobbies?" Kelvin tried to make the question seem as trivial as possible. Clearly, gaming wasn't one.

"I tried writing. Poems," Max couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"How did it go?" Kelvin was genuinely interested. He didn't take Max for a guy who would write. Max couldn't even stay put in a place for more than half an hour. He also was loud and chatty.

"It was terrible. I showed it to some of the guys, a couple of them stopped talking to me. Altogether. It's funny as they were pricks anyway," Kelvin sensed the salt and did not continue further.

"Okay let's get ready," he adjusted their chairs before retiring to his room.

***

Kelvin stood in front of the store counter observing the man counting and ensuring that a week's worth of his daily wage was enough for renting the vehicle for a day enough for a round-trip.

It better be good

Max was a good company so far and it didn't hurt to have a change in environment once in a while.

He observed Max pushing past a bunch of kids for his turn on the computer. He only had this in mind when Max had mentioned after their gaming session that he wanted to feel on top of the world.

The screen read, "No internet." Below that ominous warning which would have meant disaster in the old days, there was a stick figure running around trying to dodge block shaped obstacles which he either jumped or ducked under. The screen oscillated between bright and dark backgrounds making him dizzy and sick. Kelvin did not see the appeal of it. Also, internet never caught on which reminded him, their place in the world. LAN gaming however, was a flourishing leisure activity. The console he had was passed on from his father along with the games inside.

"Take that," the words came out of him in jubilation and Max did not care about the confused looks on the children who were competing to get the highest score. Kelvin saw Max approach with a triumphant glee. Max had left him there to secure the deal and wouldn't elaborate on why he wouldn't try. With his skills, they could have got some discount.

Lee wasn't exactly a lap cat and was already restless and frustrated with the bubble. Maybe the trip wasn't the best idea.

It can't be that bad

"That's some great company you've got there, boy. Suits you though." The man in the counter sneered.

"Well, you didn't complain about his money," Max couldn't keep it in and was met with silence and indifference. "Get going before I change my mind." It was as if Max was never in the conversation.

***

It was hot. That was all Kelvin could think. He felt dehydrated with his throat becoming dry. Exiting from his commute, a scooter looking vehicle with a large enough platform, he was thankful for Max driving him safely even if at times he didn't seem to know what he was doing. Lee had just laid on his lap, probably perplexed by all the movement. Lee couldn't feel at home despite being more suited to the unpleasant feeling of hot air and sand blowing their way. There was not much talking throughout the journey as they had their masks on and important conversations such as bathroom breaks were non-verbal.

"It's hot," Max felt like a broken record, even though he barely remembered seeing one. Gladly, it was safe to remove the masks now they had reached their destination.

"What else do you expect from a mining village, genius... Actually, it's colder than I remember. Your place did a number on me. Not gonna lie."

Kelvin made sure the battery was safely stored in his bag which he needed in order to not be stranded on the way back. Max had given him a map which had enough information to reach home under optimal weather, which was rather optimistic.

There were a number of tents in what appeared to be a settlement. But they were mostly unoccupied. Curious settlers did occasionally come up to meet the two but their objects of interest were the strange vehicle and the stranger animal.

Lee was too exhausted to show off and just stopped walking, complete with an extended loud meow of protest. He was very irritable, threatening to snap at anybody who neared him.

"I think you need to scoop Lee up. Let's get him to Amy." Max considered that to be the best option.

"Oh, she is our village chief. I am one of her staff. Technically, a government officer. But I don't do much to be honest," Max hoped this would alleviate some of Kelvin's concerns regarding their current situation.

Kelvin had his doubts. Max sure looked old enough to be one.

***

"Look who it is! Back from a bit of serving the community huh, is this your friend? Oh my..."

All eyes were on Lee. Amy was denied the permission to touch but she coaxed Lee with the food diversion and managed to sneak in a couple of strokes down the head which Lee did not seem to care.

It was Kelvin's turn to be struck with wonder. He did not expect a cozy spacious metal chamber which he needed to descend into, from a secret entrance beneath the non-decrepit doormat. The ceiling which technically was the floor was semi-circular and the room had a tubular shape, like a tunnel. Kelvin could see the appeal almost immediately. No sand. No sounds of the barren land. Considerably cooler as well.

Could Max be hiding something? He was rather cagey for an extrovert around personal questions.

"What was that all about?" a quizzical look was exchanged between the two men which Amy took notice.

"I'm Amy. Welcome to the village. Nice to meet you." Handshakes were in order.

"I was planning to show him around," Max felt the need to move on into other more pressing matters.

Kelvin decided it was about time. "I want to know what you've been doing at my place, Max."

"Calm down. I tried to steal some of the crystals, okay? I didn't succeed. Amy sent me out to work for a while in return as a service."

"As punishment," Amy issued a quick correction.

"They have too much. In my opinion, they give away very little. Our people work day in and day out in the mines. Do we not? Convenient cheap labor," this did not go well last time Max made the argument, it didn't this time either. Amy just tilted her head and looked at him with a been-there-done-that expression.

"Sorry Kelvin. Max can be a bonehead sometimes. He gets carried away." Amy carried a tray of snacks and offered to the guests whom seem to oblige with no hesitation.

"Why am I getting dragged into this mess," Kelvin started to regret his decision to spend his wages on a whimper of a trip.

Should have stormed out before taking a bite out of these

"I used to have hunting dogs. I know a thing or two about animals. I can take care of Lee in your absence. Feel free to look around," Amy proceeded to take out a pet treat, put a plastic cup over it, followed it up with two empty similar cups nearby. Lee seemed to follow the movements as the cups were shifted rapidly. Lee was liking the challenge posed to his sense of smell. He would indulge the human till he needed it.

"Max, I will be looking into the hospital affairs exclusively, now that you are back. I trust you to do your job."

"I'll see what I can do," was the best assurance Max could give her.

***

"Why me?" Kelvin tried to not show his irritation, but he couldn't. Sure, Kelvin did not try anything on him. But he didn't know why Max would've thought that he was not reasonable.

"You are as much as an outsider as me back at your place, Kelvin. They call us cave dwellers. Plus, you are funny if I say so myself," Max was met with silence.

"Heatstroke and lung diseases, these are our biggest problems. In addition to the fight to survive that we all are a part of," Kelvin and Max were walking the tunnels.

"I work at the mines and look into the work conditions. There are others who look into finances and trade prices. We always get the short end of the stick. Amy is frustrating. She doesn't get it. All she says is we get medicine and protection from the outside. It's ridiculous." Max noticed that Kelvin was not listening. "Nerding out, are we?"

Kelvin let out an apologetic smile. He was looking around for the rails that mining creates move on. The deeper portions of the tunnel system would be where the ores would be extracted, and a chain of complicated chemical reactions that need to occur for isolating the desired metals, especially Copper and Nickel, and as a byproduct, Silver.

Where they had 'trees' and microalgae, the miners solution for the air problem was much simpler. Hydrolysis. Sequestered rainwater was collected in the underground tank and treated. It was normally unsafe to store or transport Oxygen through pipes, but that was possible with the crystals. It was fascinating.

"See, this place has an echo," Max kept making weird noises watching it reverberate and ricochet within the tunnels for a good amount of time. There was a low buzz from the surrounding machinery and the lights, but overall was very quiet. The only sounds interrupting the void was their footsteps. As they went on, and the path was getting less traversed, the visibility was up and down in patches.

Kelvin saw water. First, they were droplets leaking from the tunnel ceiling. His breathing fastened. The tunnels felt like narrowing. Kelvin could hear his chest pounding. The water began to fill the tunnel to the level of his calf. He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried.

"You would love this crap, once we ascend the stairs sometime from now, that is the exit towards our Geothermal power plant. I honestly don't know how it works. Earth has steam. Steam rotates fans. They say our homes are powered that way. Have to admit, it is cool..." Max expected appreciation to the lengths that he had navigated to indulge Kelvin, except he didn't receive any compliment. 

Max instead saw his companion fighting for his life from something that wasn't there.

Water had reached his knee slowly creeping up towards his chest. Kelvin could already feel him suffocate. He remembered that day as a child when his father took his outstretched arm above the rubble of the water-logged remains of the house. He remembered how his father escorted him to safety. Lee was entrusted to him by his father. And how they took his father away. How the relentless surge of water that wreaked havoc on his childhood receded into something as feeble as a stream of tears before disappearing into the palms of a grimacing man.

"Are you okay?" Max was deeply concerned. He tried to shake his friend out of his paranoia to no avail. Kelvin finally gave up and collapsed into Max.

***

She stood there watching the spectacle unfold. A bunch of men controlling something that looked like a fly. It flew upwards towards the clouds. The fly that she did not know was a drone, dispersed its contents into the clouds. She could see that something was written on the fly. It read AgI. Chemists would call it silver iodide and scientists of yore would call this Cloud Seeding. A number of perceived flies failed to reach their destination, plummeting down with the golden shine giving out a whimper. Some did succeed. The woman who had denied her peaceful call for cooperation was looking upwards towards the sky in hope. The arrogant feline who disrespected her stood guard to the woman. Soon before she called it a day, wondering how futile that this token of a resistance would last, it started to rain. She extended her arm, catching few of the raindrops which appeared murky before sterile within her palms as it touched the surface of the calamity stuck realm. This was not supposed to happen.

This rain was their resilience.