Prince Florzel had changed out of the masked ensemble he had worn at the party and had slipped into something a bit more comfortable, a large cream colored coat. His long white hair had been put up, kept in place by a long golden pin. Florzel’s rule was simple, always look your best, even if there was no one there to see you. He stepped in front of two large silver doors now and one of the guards that stood in front of it held up an arm, stopping him. To put it mildly...Florzel was not amused. He crossed his arms, his mouth drawn into a sneer.

“What are you doing, I demand to be let through.”

“You need an appointment to speak with the emperor,” the guard said in a low voice.

“I’ve never needed it before.” Florzel attempted to push past him but the guard stopped him. “Let me through!” Florzel snapped. “I am the G_D damn prince-”

“Let him pass,” his father’s gravelly voice called from the inside. Slowly the guards parted and the doors slid open. His father was seated at the end of a long dinner table that stretched nearly the length of the room. The meal had already been served and lay resting across the table. A slab of meat sat at the center adorned by fruit and flowers. The most Florzel got for a greeting was his father raising his wine glass slightly. Florzel looked to the meat on the table and swallowed hard.

“Don’t you think it’s slightly...pardon my wording here...distasteful to eat them like that. Criminals is one thing but them...they died in your name father. They were scientists of the court.” He couldn’t see his father's face through the large metal mask we wore, only the glimmer of light off the red glass encased eye holes and the bottom of his bony jaw.

“A good man and a bad man’s body is the same once they’re dead. They don’t taste different.” He took another bite and Florzel couldn’t help but shudder slightly at the bob of his throat as the meat went down. “Do you want any?” His father asked.

“Not tonight father, no. I think I’ve quite lost my appetite.” His father simply scoffed, taking another sip of wine.

“Pussy. You know I’m simply not being wasteful. Human meat is the only real meat left in the world. I can’t stand that synthesized substitute bullshit they tried to make. Nothing can replace real meat. You know, back in the day, before the new beginning, people used to have it any time they damn well pleased. It wasn’t a luxury, you could have it anywhere.” Florzel stared at him a moment.

“The criminals you’ve been eating...they come from those parties don’t they?” His father simply shrugged.

“But of course.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about them?”

“You always knew about the party districts.”

“But I never knew people were murdered at them!” His father shook his head, taking another small bite.

“They weren’t people, they were criminals, degenerates. The city must be purged of them, it’s a necessity. You’re still too young to understand-”

“YOU CAN NOT SHELTER ME FOREVER FATHER!” Florzel clasped a hand to his mouth, suddenly realizing he had been shouting. “I’m sorry.” He couldn’t see his father’s eyes but he could practically feel them narrow from behind his mask.

“I do not shelter you, you ungrateful little brat. You’re simply too stupid to actually understand the inner workings of this city...of this kingdom. I keep you in the dark so you don’t fuck up. I gave you one little job. Do you hear me? One job Florzel. ‘Keep the girl in the chamber’’. And what do you do?”

“She said she needed air...she said she would only be out for a minute. The whole situation it felt...inhumane.”

“And then what did she do?”

“Father-”

“Tell me Florzel.”

“She…” he bowed his head. “She murdered 100 people.”

“Correct. 100 lives paid for your little act of heroism.”

“She’s still my little sister. I didn’t think-”

“That is right,” his father snapped, taking another sip of wine. “You didn’t think. That would be disappointing enough but in the end you couldn’t even handle the task of bringing a little girl back. I had to send Rifter to clean up your mess.” Florzel swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry-”

“Sorry isn’t good enough.” His father sighed heavily. “Rifter is more of a son to me then you’ll ever be.” The words struck Florzel like a bullet, even though he had been thinking them almost his entire life. “Rifter should be my heir, not you. I raised that boy along with you after his parents were killed, G_D knows he turned out much better than you.” Florzel was shaking slightly.

“You only took him in because the studies already showed he was a genius-”

“That’s right Florzel, he was a GENIUS. Rifter has grown into the smartest man alive and you...you’ve grown into a naive little fop. Get out.”

“Father please-”

“You don’t deserve the right to call me father, get out, NOW.” The doors slid open and the emperor went back to eating, not even looking up from his meal as his son slunk out of the room.

Florzel took a deep breathe upon stepping out into the hall, making his way to the aux room. He stepped inside, slumping down in the bright purple chair that sat in its center. He pulled at his aux cord, attaching it into his neck slot and blinked.

-Logging into arcAdia-

That stupid little logo Rifter had created when they were children bobbed up and down as it loaded. Florzel cursed bitterly under his breathe, why wouldn’t he just update the stupid thing?

-Log in successful. Welcome back Perfectly-Princely. You are now being connected to the arcAdia servers-

A large black screen suddenly covered all four of the white walls where arcAdia’s main chats and social media inputs were normally displayed.

-You are being invited into an unregistered chatroom. Do you wish to accept?-

Florzel blinked once for yes and saw a familiar username appear before him.

>Perfectly-Princely: Hey, any luck with Jenx?

>CREATOR: There’s been two slight hiccups.

>Perfectly-Princely: Please elaborate my dear.

>CREATOR: Well, for one I’m stuck here overnight. I didn’t predict the early curfew. Two...she tried the update on him.

>Perfectly-Princely: Wait...WHAT? Is he alive?

>CREATOR: Yes. I am not quite sure how. The update still isn’t ready for normal human participation. I’m the only one that can use it. I knew it was a mistake to use her as a carrier for it. The effects have worn off by now but if she can physically connect with him and pass over the mental drive then we’re in trouble.

>Perfectly-Princely: Why?

>CREATOR: The full update was only meant for me and her. We’re the only two that were supposed to have the brain capacity to withstand it. This Jenx child only got a little taste of it, the utmost tip of the iceberg. If he connects with the mental drive he could have access the entirety of arcAdia.This action could very well still kill him or drive him insane but if it doesn’t...he’ll have information on everything. That includes, you know what.

>Perfectly-Princely: Shit.

>CREATOR: This is easily avoidable however. We just need to find her first.

>Perfectly-Princely: Did you find any leads on her?

>CREATOR: Jenx said she’s with a girl, Vi. I’ll look her up when I get back to the master database. I had to wait for that annoying child to fall asleep before I was able to even contact you. He snores. It’s driving me crazy. Did you know his hovel (if you can even call it that) only has one lock. ONE! There’s probably germs flying about too. I wish I brought a gas mask. This is so stressful.

>Perfectly-Princely: Calm down. You’re going to be fine.

>CREATOR: This roof seems thin. I feel like it could fall down and kill me. Oh! And I forgot my parasol, I’ll have to walk in the sunlight on my way back, what if I get skin cancer??? This really is the worst.

>Perfectly-Princely: Rifter just take a deep breathe.

-T00str has joined the conversation-

>T00str: Master, we have a serious emergency.

>CREATOR: Oh no.

>Perfectly-Princely: Oh G_D this isn’t…

>CREATOR: I’m afraid it is.

>T00str: Sorry your majesty, this really is an urgent matter.

>CREATOR: We’ll talk later. I hope you don’t mind but I need to boot you out of the chat.

>Perfectly-Princely: Yeah of course. I understand-

-Perfectly-Princely has been booted from the conversation-

Just like that the black screen vanished and arcAdia returned to it’s normal hum of chat rooms and games and videos all at once, arcAdia was an always buzzing city. Florez yanked his chord out and sighed heavily.

“Shit.”