The bulk of the Panorme family had returned home, laughing and staggering through the door, drunk on chatter and tiredness.

The brother and sisters hadn't lived in their childhood home for a while, but when they'd decided to move, they'd done so as a group: it was much easier, more fun, and cheaper than going their separate ways, especially considering they'd decided early on to be a team, even at work.

Seraphin loved being with his sisters and doubted he could have found better roommates. He kicked a pair of misplaced shoes out of the way in the entryway, letting his younger sister, Nana, pass before closing the door behind them.

The house wasn't particularly tidy, but it was lived-in and comfortable, animated by the personalities of the five people who lived there, and Seraphin felt safe there.

«How late were we?» One of the sisters muttered, smoothing her green hair with a hand

«Not so much, Io. If we go to sleep now, we can hope to stay fresh and beautiful» Seraphin joked

«Ionia will always be fresh and beautiful» Marti interjected, leaning casually against her brother. He put an arm around her shoulders, letting her yawn and rest her head against his side. «Like all of us. But aren't you sleepy?»

«Not yet!» Nana chirped, covering her mouth as she laughed

«Ah, blessed youth!»

«Come on, off to bed, my men» Seraphin said, generating a wave of giggles «My manly sisters, why are you laughing? Perhaps it's the joy of the fact that we might receive some funds?»

«We won't starve!»

«Hurray!» said Celestine, the girl with her hair slicked back, and a couple of the others followed suit

«While you guys are getting ready, I'll probably put the finishing touches on the project to send to the president» Seraphin suggested. Both Seras and Sangreal had seemed interested, but for their request for funding from Alkahest Labs to be formally accepted, it was best to submit one first.

«I don't think she expects an immediate response; she's probably not done celebrating yet» Ionia observed. She was wearing a pair of yellow-tinted glasses; she passed them to her brother, who placed them on a cabinet in the entryway «You get some rest, too»

«I think you're right. Will you help me give the budget a final go-over tomorrow, Io?»

«Of course»

«Perfect, then I'll take care of the rest»

That night, Seraphin said goodnight to his sisters and, as soon as he slipped under the blue covers of his bed, he felt his body relax.

He slept soundly.

The next morning, Ionia joined him in the kitchen, her yellow glasses back on. Seraphin had woken up first and snuck into the kitchen to make breakfast, still in his pajamas, walking barefoot so as not to wake any of the girls. Celestine, in particular, was a light sleeper.

«Good morning»

«Good morning!»

«Did you make the eggs?»

«And the coffee».

Ionia leaned over to peer at his work, eyeing the eggs he'd placed in the pan critically. They must have been approved, because she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek before retrieving her laptop and sitting down to eat.

Nana had "vandalized" the small computer, covering the outside with stickers featuring images from the old internet of long cats, memes, and frogs in wizard hats, but Ionia had never been bothered enough to remove them.

«Let's see» she muttered to herself, accessing the documents.

Seraphin watched her squint as she did when she was concentrating, the scrolling numbers reflected in her yellow lenses. Ionia didn't have great eyesight, but she said those lenses helped her enhance contrast and reduce the strain on her eyes from the blue light from screens, so she often wore them when she had to go out at night or work on the computer.

«Can you pass me your phone, Io? It's over there on the table, next to you»

«Huh? Sure, yes».

After receiving the item and thanking her, Seraphin left her to concentrate, transferring the eggs from the pan to the plates. He took advantage of that moment to satisfy a small curiosity and decided to find out more about their contact.

His smartphone model was very different from Marti's, more similar to a portable video game console than a glass rectangle, partially collapsible to fit in a pocket.

First of all, all they knew about their current contact was a name (or, Seraphin thought, more likely a surname), Sangreal, his connection to the Alkahest labs, and the fact that he dived to study krill.

There wasn't much else on the Internet.

Seraphin activated the browser filter to remove all the old web sites from the results, in case they were drowning out the useful results.

During the period they now knew as the Gray Era, many of the old servers containing pieces of the Internet had been destroyed, but not all of the old web was gone. There was still enough for Nana to find pictures of long cats at will, and for the occasional useless site inhabited only by bots to still be accessible in the results of new browsers.

In specialist texts, they called them by names like burial websites; Seraphin and her sisters called them zombie sites.

Even with those removed, however, it seemed to the public eye that Sangreal only existed in the presence of President Alkahest.

«Good morning» Marti said, resting her chin on her brother's shoulder

«Good morning!» he replied, turning his head quickly to kiss her cheek «Did you sleep well?»

«I dreamed things I don't remember. No, wait, I remember one thing... it was a train, I think. A train with a red crest. What are you doing, looking for your sweetheart on the internet?»

«I wanted to know what projects he's been involved in so far, what he's studied, but there's nothing»

«He's really weird, the bro»

«Hm, he's a bit of a Luddite» Seraphin replied «He doesn't even receive emails, remember?»

«Yeah, he probably hates technology mostly. He only likes shrimp»

«Aaand... nothing, there's nothing about him... except a few photos with Alkahest»

«You could write a letter to the email the president told you about; maybe she'll tell you more»

«I'd rather finish the estimate first. After we've done the budgeting, maybe I'll ask her something, okay?»

«Can you show me photos of him?»

«Hm, fine. But I doubt it'll be of any use»

«It's useful to me, because he's really, really a morsel».

Seraphin laughed, not so much because his sister was being blunt as usual, but because she'd called the tallest man he'd ever seen "morsel", like if he was a tiny thing, and not an entire feast. He passed the phone to Marti, and she quickly brought her index finger close to the screen, scrolling through the page without even touching it.

«Hm. What a beautiful posture...» Marti commented «Look how straight he holds his back»

«He looks like a prince»

«Oh yeah? Now say it again without those twinkling eyes, little brother»

«I... I don't have twinkling eyes» Seraphin laughed «Or if I do, it's because I'm handsome, not because I'm looking at him».

In the photo his sister had placed under his nose, Sangreal looked both like a wild animal, with the hostile gaze of a wolf about to bite someone who's gotten too close, and like a nobleman straight out of a fairytale illustration. He was dressed in a velvet suit, a blood-red tie, and a fleur-de-lys brooch just above his heart. His tight pants showed off his long legs, with muscular thighs that stretched the fabric slightly. The cut of his jacket, a little short, revealed the shape of his buttocks.

Arm in arm with him was Seras Alkahest, wearing a black and white dress, as always full of sheer, fine fabrics, and sheer details. She wore a veil over her head, as if she were a bride, and the train of her dress was embellished with openwork tulle and had an almost unreal, living appearance.

«He dresses like someone from, to be generous, a thousand years ago» Marti commented

«Hm, that's true, he seems to have stepped out of a historical reconstruction... the other one, too, the gentleman the president had on her arm the other day, right?» Seraphin replied, «He also wore a jacket, with a tie, like a man from a thousand years ago»

«Come on, it's fascinating»

«It is» Seraphin chuckled «Do you think Mrs. Alkahest dresses them like that? I mean, it's not common to see men in suits and ties, but she showed us two in one evening»

«Yes. I think it's her taste. You can bet she has a slew of servants dressed as penguins at home»

«It makes sense».

Men's fashion had changed unpredictably in recent years, but if there was one constant that united all styles, it was that ties had been abandoned. Now they were only produced by tailors who produced historical costumes, to dress people who impersonated 1980s businessmen at Pre-Grey fairs. The calendar hanging on the wall, not far from the table, showed a photo of a small group of researchers wearing colorful corsets under open shirts and semi-long skorts, all lined up behind a giant glass tank, inside which a lobster the size of a pony was proudly displayed.

«Those tight pants» Marti added, grinning

«Enough, cell phone confiscated for looking at men's butts too much».

As Seraphin took the phone back from his sister Marti, Ionia approached and craned her neck to take a look at the phone.

«I've seen him before, you know?» She said

«Who, Sangreal?» Seraphin asked

«Yes. I told you, didn't I, that I went to the mall the other day and saw the president?»

«Oh, yes»

«There, he was there too»

«Ah»

«I don't know if it's a good idea to work together. I mean, I don't think we have any other choice, that's for sure» Ionia sighed «But he's a hysterical lunatic»

«So he... he didn't act like that because he was high yesterday?»

«Look, I don't know if he's always high, but when I saw him, he was arguing with a clerk because he touched his shoulder»

«No? Really? Oh, you told me!» Seraphin slapped his forehead «You told me about the guy at the mall!»

«Yes. We just didn't know it was him at the time. But I swear, the clerk didn't do anything weird to him, he just touched him on the shoulder while he was trying on a jacket, and Sangreal... looked like he wanted to eat him alive. The poor guy was mortified, he couldn't stop apologizing»

«Customer service is a tough job»

«Very tough» agreed Marti, who had a background as a barista at one of Paris's most beloved cafés

«Now let's eat in peace, okay? Afterwards, can you help me write the budget breakdown?»

«Of course»

«You're a sweetheart, lil' sis».

Ionia, pouting, crossed her arms over her chest. Her yellow glasses were slightly askew on her nose, giving her sullen pose an adorable look.

«You asked me to help you with the budget»

«I think I'll need both of your help» Her brother replied diplomatically, hunching his head slightly as he reached for his cup of hot, black, and boiling coffee.

Seraphin liked his coffee just like that: dark, as strong as possible, almost burnt. He didn't use a French press like most of her friends, but an Italian moka pot, and he let it whistle and gurgle for a while even after the coffee was brewed, to let the aromas "strengthen," as he liked to say.

Marti added milk and sugar to her coffee. She had a blue mug, a little lighter than her hair, with the words "Sometimes sisters are like treasure chests. I'm like an entire treasure room" written on it.

Seraphin had a gray and pink mug, which, when filled with hot liquid, revealed a design of leaping dolphins.

Ionia's mug, a green very similar to the green she dyed her hair, was decorated with vinyl stickers depicting realistic crabs of different species. Celestine had a purple one, with the simple words "BOSS" written in large letters.

The youngest sister, Nana, had two mugs, and she loved using both at the same time, pouring sweetened coffee into one and unsweetened coffee into the other, sipping her favorite beverage at the time. Both enamel mugs were decorated with a jumble of unnaturally colored animals: neon pink fish, greenish dolphins, blue and yellow killer whales, silver corals, orange seals, white sunfish.

They weren't the only mugs in the kitchen: there were dirty ones in the sink, clean ones dangling from hooks on the wall, delicately enameled espresso cups in a glass cabinet, and even large, handleless mugs stacked in a corner, next to the massive seven-liter air fryer, which looked like a black monolith on the kitchen counter.

The Panorme family spent the morning working, discussing budgets, writing emails, and posting updates on the blog.

Nana had had the idea for the blog a couple of years earlier: something to share their adventures with anyone who wanted to follow the adventures of a group of marine biologists; it was called "Mermaids and Coffee."

«Should I write about Sangreal, or do you think he'll find out and report us?» Nana asked the others, resting her chin on her hand

«Write about him, but don't say his name» Celestine replied «Change it. That way he won't be recognizable»

«Hm. Okay. I think our readers will like this story!».

Nana quickly wrote the diary entry, enriching it with some of the comments her sisters dictated to her from time to time, then published it, and to check that all the formatting was correct, she opened the blog.

«Perfect» she said in a low voice.

There was a chance, even after Nana changed Sangreal's name to "Leopold," that someone might connect their eccentric handler to the man in the story: it was hard to forget such a man.

It was much more unlikely, however, that they would recognize him as the same Sangreal that Seraphin met the next time.