THE MOMENT
"Are you sure it's okay!??" Jubilee was nervous as she asked. She wasn't worried Glory Anna would say no, in fact, she was certain the green-haired woman would say yes. But, it was Jubilee's way of convincing herself that she had permission. The teenage girl sat inside Glory's Cafe at the counter on a Saturday evening, and she was bursting with excitement. Glory's wife, Flutter, was widely considered the greatest gamer, and she won a particularly spectacular roller derby match that morning. It was a match that Jubilee herself considered competing in until she was advised not to. Looking back on it, she was glad for that advice. If she'd competed she would have handily lost, and been too depressed to enjoy anything else. But, as it stood, Flutter won and now Jubilee was waiting to interview the champion. She was planning to at least record it, unless Flutter gave her permission to livestream it. Either way, it promised to be a great night for her stream at least and she was in a fantastic mood.
"It was her idea," Glory Anna nodded. "I told her I had a chance to meet you earlier in the week and I talked about your stream. She'd been having a hard time deciding who to award the interview to after the win...," Glory shrugged, " ...we were assuming she would," she giggled then continued. "And, she thought it'd be a great idea to get interviewed by the 'Summoned Hero'," she added, then gestured at the light crowd around them. 'Cafe' was in the name, but the design was more of a diner with single stools at the counter and booths lining the walls. Along with great coffee, Glory's Cafe was known for its delicious food and more than a few families were there for dinner.
"When she gets here, you two can use the office in the back. She said she wants to do the interview live, and it'll be quieter back there."
"'Thank you!" Jubilee was grateful for her kindness, including the free piece of pie she dropped off before moving on to other things. When she was gone, the teenager didn't hesitate to start on the pie. She was sitting close to the end of the counter and within earshot of a family of three about to leave. The waitress had already returned their change and they stood from the booth while in conversation.
"Dad, is it true the Earth used to only have one moon?" the child asked. Jubilee paused with the loaded fork about to enter her mouth, and she took a second to think. But, she recovered quickly and brought the bite to her lips as she listened to the rest.
"Well, technically, the second one isn't a moo-," his response interested Jubilee, until he was cut off.
"Dear, we don't talk about such things." the presumed mother stifled the conversation as the three walked away and out the door.
"Huh," with them gone, Jubilee felt comfortable reacting aloud. She'd noticed the second moon on her new Earth, and she noticed that it felt different from the home she couldn't remember. When she first arrived, and as she developed a daily life, there was always something more relevant happening and she barely had any spare thoughts about the second moon. It never came up in conversation and no one seemed to give it more than a second thought. She took it as a standard of this new planet. But now she had questions.
"Hey, you okay?" Glory Anna seemed to have a well-tuned emotional sense, or maybe Jubilee's face looked confused for a moment as the woman appeared in front of her again, behind the counter.
"Yeah...," Jubilee made an attempt at gesturing to the family that just walked out. ".. I heard them talking. Is it true the Earth used to only have one moon?" she repeated the boy's question to Glory, and the waitress readily nodded.
"Oh, absolutely," Glory nodded. "The man-made one finished construction about ... oh..," she dragged it out as she thought in real-time. "... wow 30 years ago in 1996." Her answer impressed, and somewhat confused Jubilee. The answer came easy, with no hint of clandestine obfuscation.
"The dad..," Jubilee made the idle gesture over her shoulder one more time even though the family was long gone. "... started saying it technically isn't a moon...because it's man-made?"
"Really? He said that!?" Glory asked in genuine surprise. Then, she nodded again. "It's man-made but also it has a larger purpose than an idle orbiting moon. This world runs on games, but there needs to be an external program running those games, right?" Glory asked in order to elaborate the point herself. "Humanity built the new moon as a sort of processing unit; it controls and monitors all the nanos that we use on Earth. Well, humanity with the help of A.I.," Glory smiled.
"Wow...," Jubilee hadn't considered things on that scale before and it was fascinating. But, she still had a question. She was the 'Summoned Hero', so maybe that's why Glory was being so free with the information.
"Is... any of this a secret?" she asked. Glory shook her head.
"No, not at all," she shrugged. "It's common knowledge."
"The mother seemed to think so, she kept her husband from elaborating and said, 'We don't talk about such things'."
"Oh," Glory giggled and nodded. "That makes more sense. I was surprised Charlie brought it up at all. They're regulars here and I've gotten to know about them. Now, I'm not one to judge; but, I will say his wife is definitely more straightlaced than he is. She tends to think games are childish," she said.
"Huh?" Jubilee wasn't quite sure how that related to secrecy.
"She doesn't like talking about games, nanos, or the moon that runs them all, and you know, those 'such things'," she used air quotes to highlight the phrase. "Apparently games will rot her son's brain," she shrugged.
"Oh," Jubilee nodded, then giggled at a stray thought. "So, they can't talk about the moon at all?" she made the comment first, and that led her to another question. "Actually, yeah, how do you tell them apart, you know, in conversation?"
"Well, the man-made one has a name," Glory nodded. "The natural moon is just, 'the Moon'. The one A.I. helped us build is named, Io," she said.