The room was a studio apartment with extra beds; one double and three small bunks built into the walls like shelves for bodies. Just like the corridors, it was pristine white and devoid of colour except the bedding, which was muted orange.

Trev stopped Atticus at the door. “I need to scan your ID. We need to register all the evacuees in the hospital.”

Atticus stared at Trev, wide-eyed. He could feel his pulse in his throat. “This is a hospital?”

The blonde man nodded. “It’s one of the few structurally sound, self-sufficient locations in Tollindo. It made sense to convert it into a hospital.” He held the scanner out, waiting for Atticus to comply.

Hospitals were a dangerous place to be when you were on the wrong side of the law. NexTech, naturally, owned all the largest medical facilities in the galaxy as well. Tracking criminals via the health care system was a walk in the park when they had access to everything from fingerprints to blood types. Dion made sure they never set foot in one, no matter how ill or injured they were. He always paid extra to see any back-alley quack with half a degree. Even those were rare occasions. His philosophy had always been: ‘if it’s not broken, it doesn’t need fixing’. 

One of Atticus’ earliest memories was crying over Dion’s collapsed body. He wouldn’t wake up no matter how much he shook him. An old man had heard him crying and called an ambulance, but Dion came to before it arrived. He’d pointed his gun at the old man and threatened to shoot him if he told the paramedics anything about them while they hid. The old man had to fake a heart attack to appease everyone. Dion wouldn’t leave their hiding place until the ambulance departed. 

Another time, Atticus himself tried to get him to a hospital, but Dion had jumped out of the moving taxi in protest. He was sure his brother was going to kill himself if they continued, so they turned around and went home instead. He’d had to drag Dion up the stairs while he was unconscious. The landlord evicted them the next day for leaving blood stains all over the hall carpets. Dion didn’t seem to mind being homeless, saying it was a reasonable trade-off.

Those were only some of the worst memories. There were numerous stories just like those. Atticus wasn’t quite sure why he was so vehemently against hospitals, but there had to be a reason. No one would try so hard to avoid a doctor without one.

“I can’t… we shouldn’t be here…” He muttered, backing away a step. But he also couldn’t leave Dion. He didn’t know where they’d taken him. Even if he found him, he wouldn’t know where to go. The surface was still crawling with monsters.

Impatience turned into suspicion on Trev’s face. Atticus was used to that expression. People who avoid getting scanned had something to hide.

“Don’t be so strict. Half of Tollindo has bad blood.” Echo draped an arm over Atticus’ shoulders. “Not like Ember or I can register either.”

“Oh,” Trev countered, “You are registered, though. I’ve put you two down as underage dependents. That’s how I got you the room.”

“I can’t…” Atticus repeated softly, shaking his head.

Trev rolled his eyes and made some notes on his holodisplay. “I guess I can add one more dependent. Dion Saunders is registered as your father and caretaker while you’re here. I’ll let you break the news to him that he’s a registered breeder.”

It was hard for Atticus to stop himself from laughing. On the borderworlds, or at least the ones he had visited, ‘breeders’ were people who raised children for money. There were government benefits to raising children, but only if they were registered on a list to prevent human trafficking; Not that it was much of a deterrent.

“Who’s that?” Ember chimed in, speaking around something in his mouth. At some point, he had found a jar of rock candy while Atticus wasn’t looking. He towered over Trev to peer at the holodisplay.

“My brother,” Atticus managed to squeeze out, “the guy we were with.”

“Oh! Simon.”

“Simon?” Atticus was confused.

“SIGH-man,” Ember repeated. “Man sounds like he has as much trouble breathing as Echo does. He sighs at least every second sentence.”

A grin spread across Atticus’ face again. Before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a chime on Trev’s DataCuff. Trev turned away from the group to answer the call, but naturally, all three of them watched him quietly, trying to catch whatever they could from the conversation. 

“She’s who?” Trev tried not to shout, suddenly looking back at the group with a stunned expression. Trev ended with, “I’ll be right there. Hold the line for me. Don’t say or do anything.”

He pointed a finger at each of the twins. “Behave yourselves. This isn’t the time or place for shenanigans.” He gave Atticus a resigned grimace. “Good luck.” He left without another word.

The man was already out of sight in the crowded corridor when Atticus realised he didn’t have a chance to ask about Dion and Hyejin. A lot was going on, yet his mind felt strangely blank, almost like his body had given up on using his brain altogether and was running on pure instinct.

“Top bunk is mine,” Echo declared, climbing up the small step ladder. The bunk beds looked cramped and uncomfortable, clearly designed for small children. Atticus was pretty sure that anyone under the age of twelve would have a hard time sleeping in the tiny cutouts.

The only other features of the room were a kitchenette, a round dining suite and a door that Atticus could only assume led to the bathroom. A shower was enticing. He was covered in so much dust and dry blood that it felt like a thick crust, suffocating his skin.

A dirty boot hit the cabinet door beside him, making him jump. It left a tread-print on the white surface with red dust. Over his shoulder, Atticus saw Echo hurl another boot squarely at Ember’s head. They were also filthy. Atticus doubted the sterility of the room would last the night. 

While Echo and Ember ‘talked’ between themselves in their other language again, Atticus decided it would be the perfect time to slink away on his own. The conversation seemed to be heating up by the rising tones in their voices. The idea of having some alone time sounded like a nice change from the chaos of the last twenty-four hours. 

Atticus rummaged around the cabinets until he found a pile of towels and bath robes. Naturally, they were also white. Atticus wondered if NexTech was allergic to colour. 

The shower head was mounted to the ceiling in a corner opposite a very narrow sink and the toilet. It almost felt like they had built a shower first, then turned it into a room later. There was barely any room to drape his clean things over the towel rack.

As the hot water cascaded over his face and shoulders, Atticus could feel his muscles start to relax. Up until that point, he hadn’t realised just how tense he had felt. 

The entire day had turned into the biggest disaster the brothers had ever experienced… or at least Atticus had ever experienced. When he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure how often Dion had put his life on the line to make ends meet. He’d never had a legitimate law-abiding job.

Now, they were in this mess because of Dion’s debt, yet every time they talked, it felt like Dion pushed the blame onto Atticus and his health condition. They needed the money for Atticus and his medicine, but for some reason couldn’t go to a hospital. Nothing about this shelter seemed to be dangerous. Everyone was so busy trying to stay alive, who had time to care about who they were? Were hospitals on the core planets different?

While Dion accrued debts, risked his life and forced them to live in the shadows, hopping from city to city, all Atticus was allowed to do was sit around the house and wait for him to come home. Occasionally, Atticus would find small hacking jobs, but the money always disappeared as quickly as it came. Dion wouldn’t let him find a real job. He didn’t have a criminal history like his brother. There was no reason why he couldn’t work like everyone else.

Atticus didn’t know what they were hiding from, but they’d spent their whole lives doing it. He turned the water off and watched the droplets fall from his hair. They were stained blue from the hair dye, forming a vibrant puddle at his bare feet. Even his hair colour was fake. Sometimes it felt like he wasn’t allowed to exist.

The face Dion made when he collapsed on the stairs flashed through his mind. The fear on his brother’s face was so real that it made Atticus feel guilty for the bitter resentment that had been surfacing. Knowing that everything he had done was genuinely out of concern, it was hard to hate him. Atticus just wished he was more open about what was really happening. 

Getting information out of his brother was as difficult as finding water in a desert.

He wasn’t sure what to do anymore. Atticus didn’t just accept Hyejin’s job because of Dion’s debt; he was so desperate to be a part of Dion’s life that he didn’t even hesitate when the opportunity presented itself. Working on something together had been a childhood dream, back when Dion was some invincible hero. Now their whole plan had gone up in flames and trigby innards. 

What if they just stayed in Tollindo? They could learn how to live like the unregistered do. The locals seemed accustomed to lawlessness. Atticus had the feeling Trev was more than just a soldier and he didn’t even bat an eyelid at the idea of fabricating information on government records. Tollindo wasn’t part of Yoshida’s territory, so it would be hard for him to find them—

There was a knock on the door. “Atty?” It was Dion. 

A mix of relief and resentment overwhelmed him. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the cold tiles. He knew Dion would never agree to stay. Not after the dimension gate opened. “I’m fine!” he replied, closing his eyes. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take this. For the first time in ages, he felt like he was allowed to be himself on Tollindo. Somehow, escaping falling buildings and running for their lives from interdimensional monsters was a reprieve from his daily prison of solitude and isolation. He didn’t want to go back to the way things were. Something needed to change or Atticus was going to go insane.

He needed this job. He needed Hyejin as much as she needed him.