Charles Mathis was in a meeting with a strange man. The visitor had tan skin and he wore a Navy Blue suit. Charles had filled out some paperwork and handed him a white briefcase. the man double-checked it's contents and closed it quickly when Abbie barged in.

"I-I'm sorry but we need to talk, Charles!"

"That's fine, Abbie. My guest was just leaving."

He nodded toward the man, and his guest stood quickly. Abi noticed that the briefcase was now handcuffed to his wrist, he nodded to her and went out the door.

"Have a seat."

"I'd rather stand."

"Suit yourself, how can I help you?"

"You can start by explaining what you've done!"

"What HAVE I done, Abbie?"

"You tricked me! CJ Dixon is STILL around Veers! I came to you for assistance--you were supposed to have her killed!"

He glared at her. "The action was mine alone, she's important to me."

"Why? What makes her SO annoyingly special!?"

"It's personal business, I have plans for her."

"That don't involve us? Your 'children'?"

"Right."

Charles kept his calm as he saw a small blade hover over his heart. She was keeping it steady with her left hand.

"Wrong, Charles."

He saw the anger and pain in Abbie's eyes, he got up and she retracted her weapon back.

"I-I'm sorry I just--" She babbled, he walked over to her and squeezed her shoulders gently.

"Everything will be fine, you just need to trust me." He said and held out his hand for the blade. She gave it to him looked away.

She screamed when he stabbed her in her left hand with the blade.

He grunted. "Next time you want to kill me? Make a better attempt at it. You can leave now, Abbie."

She hunched her way to the door and left.

"Kids today, no respect." He sighed and reacted when he heard a chime from his HC Receiver.

[Hmm that's been on the fritz all week--must've reprogrammed itself.] He thought

"Incoming Message" the robotic voice said: HELLO, I HOPE THIS IS THE DELEGATOR--IF IT IS THEN I HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME. MY INTERVAL IS LISTED ON YOUR HOME SCREEN, AND I'M SENDIN' YOU MY MEDICAL HISTORY. PLEASE, MY NAME IS CJ DIXON AND YOU'RE MY LAST HOPE.

He reached for his intercom and pressed a button. Jillian immediately entered.

"Jillian, find Mason for me, and tell him that I need a favor."

"What kind of favor, Boss? If you don't mind me aski--"

"I DO mind! Now find him, immediately."

"Yes, Sir." She said and left.

[No respect at all.] He thought.

   Byron saw Abbie hunched over in the distance, he got angry when he saw Mason getting closer to her. There were rules for H.U.s who worked for someone like Charles Mathis. It was imperative that all hu-mans knew their place in this world, and his household.

"Oh my. Miss Forrest! What happened, are you okay?"

"Fine, Mason." She winced from the pain in her hand, he then stood closer.

"No, you're NOT. Let me help you." She flinched at his reach and closed her eyes.

A voice alerted her, and she wasn't surprised to see that it was Byron's. He was squeezing Mason's wrist, and the young man was yelling from the pain. Byron was strong enough to toss him on the ground.

"Look here, bus boy, you're only STILL alive because we allow it. You know your place by now." He held Abbie's waist with one hand and pressed her body against his. "So MEMORIZE it."

She pushed him away and knelt over Mason. This made Byron grunt and walk away.

"Miss Forrest I'm so sorr--"

"Quiet." She pulled the knife out her hand and wrapped his wrist with a silk scarf that was around her neck. His skin was slightly burned, the melted flesh made her wince. "I could easily heal you, but it's not allowed."

"You did before, upstairs must be different, huh?" He expressed, she nodded and helped him to his feet.

"Here." He pulled off the scarf and handed it to her. "You need this more."

"Don't be ridiculous, I regenerate faster than any HU-MAN." She pushed it back his way and walked away.

Mason smiled at the accessory and placed it in his pocket. Jillian was close by, so she waved her hand for his attention.

"Miss Metto, how can I help you, today?" He asked regaining his composure, she noticed his wrist and pouted.

"Hmm, somebody broke a lil' rule, didn't he?"

"Yes, I was just--" Jillian interrupted by lifting her hand.

"Don't matter. The Boss needs to see you. Somethin' about a favor, he's in his office."

"Of course, Miss." He said with a nod and headed toward toward Charles' office.