Florzel was notified of Rifter’s return at about seven o’clock in the evening. He had been told by one of Rifter’s men that he had returned home earlier, once the curfew had been lifted, but had been too busy to contact him until a few things were dealt with involving Florzel’s sister.

Rifter was too busy to see him? What else was new? 

He stood in front of the door to Rifter’s tower of a mansion now and pressed his hand to the electronic square that rested at it’s center. After a few beats the square glowed green and an automated female voice said,

“Access granted. Welcome Florzel.” There was another door behind that one and Rifter quickly punched in the pass code Rifter had given him a few days ago. Rifter periodically changed the code weekly. Florzel hated the fact that he knew at least three security cameras were currently watching him at the moment. The second door finally clicked opened and Florzel was forced to pass through several types of metal detectors before he was finally greeted by a servant dressed in white, a black synthetic rose tucked into his tailcoat pocket. The servant, recognizing him immediately and bowed his head.

“Your majesty, how very nice to see you. Will you be staying long?” Florzel just waved a hand.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t have time for pleasantries. Just tell me where the hell Rifter is.” The servant bowed his head again.

“He’s at the pool sire. Shall I fetch you a towel?”

A few minutes later Florzel stepped into the large room that contained Rifter’s indoor pool. The ceiling was painted to replicate what the sky supposedly looked like hundreds of years ago, blue. Rifter had gotten synthetic tropical plants brought in and had risen the temperature in the room to a constant 76 degrees, he said that he wanted it to look like one of the tropical rainforests he had read about.

Rifter looked up from a sun chair now, propping his purple tinted sunglasses up onto his forehead. Florzel had no idea why Rifter even had a pool in the room itself, he never used it, he was too scared of drowning. Florzel gave him a little wave and when it was returned he proceeded to sit down in the chair next to him, leaning back.

“Did you find my sister?” He asked quietly, Rifter turned to look at him.

“I’m close. We have a lead to where she might be.” Florzel was silent for a beat.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly. “I’m sorry for letting her out. I knew it was a horrible idea and still I…” Rifter shook his head.

“Don’t apologize, it wasn’t entirely your fault. We know the mental pull she can have on people, we should have all taken more precautions.”

“Were you okay last night? I know you have a hard enough time as it is even with your 50 air purifiers and security guards and taste testers.” Rifter nodded slowly.

“I survived.” Florzel continued to look at him, pushing a few strands of long white hair out of his eyes.

“Maybe getting stuck there wasn’t the worst thing in the world, this could be a step in the right direction-”

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Rifter snapped. He immediately shook his head. “Sorry...I didn’t mean for that to come out so harshly.” He lowered his sunglasses back down over his eyes, even though there was no sun. “I simply prefer to stay in a controlled environment as much as I can unless it’s necessary or work related. I don’t care what people say, it’s completely rational.” This was a dangerous topic and Florzel didn’t want to upset him more than necessary, he quickly tried to change the topic.

“How was Jenx? Was he able to offer any more information about my sister’s where abouts?”

“Enough to set me on the right track. I should have her safely returned in a few days.”

“Right.” He was sure his father would praise Rifter for it when he found her, what else was new? “Are you worried?”

“Of course I’m worried, she’s my fiancée. I want nothing more than to have her returned safe and sound,” Rifter said with a nod. Florzel bit his lip.

“But how can you still feel that way about her after what she did...after all the people she killed? I mean you hardly even knew her before this happened anyways. My father forced me to walk down that hallway after she escaped, he shoved my face into a pile of brain mush on the wall…” he shivered at the horrible memory. “And he told me…’you caused this, this all happened because of you.’ How can you still love her...hell, how can you still sit next to me knowing what I did to let this happen?” Rifter’s expression was blank.

“How could I not? She’s a weapon, I know what she’s supposed to be used for.” There was a slight pain in his voice as he continued. “And Florzel, you’re like my brother. You mean more to me than anyone else in the world. I would give up anything, my money, my happiness, even arcAdia if I had to in order to keep you safe. How could you even suggest that I could ever stop caring about you?” Florzel buried his face in his hands now.

“Because I’m a fuck up.”

“Aren’t we all?” There was a moment of silence between them, both deep in thought, Rifter suddenly turned to look at him.

“Do you know anything about raising children?” Florzel almost laughed.

“Why the hell would I know anything about raising children Rif?” Rifter shook his head, rolling over on his side.

“I don’t know, I’m desperate for advice. Parenting is far harder than I thought it would be.”

“Raising a robot isn’t the same thing as raising a child Rif.” Rifter let out a long sigh.

“I’m not so sure about that. I thought it would be easy but lately he’s been hanging out with the wrong sorts of people and I scolded him...but what if he needs human interaction just like humans? I did program him to act like a human, maybe human contact is more important than I previously anticipated. If that’s the case maybe my decisions aren’t really what’s best for him…”

“You’re ranting. Dear G_D Rif you really do sound like an overprotective dad.”

“Sorry...it’s just that he got distracted with this boy at a party and-”

“Did you know about the execution parties?” Florzel said suddenly. Rifter blinked.

“Of course?”

“Fuuuuuuck. Why did nobody tell me? You’ve gone to them before I assume?” Rifter nodded slowly.

“A few. Just upper class ones and once arcAdia was created the emperor gave me a royal exclusion from them. Talk to him, I’m sure he can explain why he kept you in the dark for so long.” Florzel could still hear his father’s words echoing in his head ‘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'. Florzel's cheeks burned with shame.

“I want to be better,” he said suddenly. “Fuck, I want to be so much better than what I am now.”

“You’re good at what you do now.”

“What? Going to events and ceremonies, photo shoots and dinners, being the poster boy for the royal family who everyone knows doesn’t actually hold a lick of power?”

“Yeah,” Rifter said.

“But I want to be something else.” 

From behind his sunglasses Rifter arched a dark brow.

“Why? I mean, what else could you even do?” 

The words stung, and what made it even worse was that Rifter wasn’t wrong.

-----------

Jenx went into the kitchen and took out a bag of oat cereal. He poured it into a bowl, and then went to the freeze. There was no soy milk left. He poured the cereal back into the bag.

“I need to go shopping,” he muttered to himself. He was never particularly hungry in the mornings, anyway. Food could wait.

He opened his closet and took out a pair of overalls that went down to his knees. He put on his goggles and blinked at the green-filter they cast on the world.

It was a nice day. Jenx’s goggles gave him a list of work orders. The first one was at the B Grey Podflats in the Northern part of the city.

He caught a tram just outside his house and directed the driver. She took the long way, for a higher fare, but Jenx didn’t mind. He wasn’t in any rush.

Traffic stalled alongside the fourth galley entrance, in front of Olivia’s Cafe. Jenx lifted his goggles and stared. It looked bombed out.

“Was there a--?” he began.

The driver, eager to spread the news, said, “Yes! You haven’t been on your aux yet?” He shook his head, and she gave a dark laugh. “It was a revolt, alright. Sixty-some people killed! I’d say gas the lot of that galley rabble, but then, who’d turn the turbines? It’s quite the dilemma. Don’t you think?”

“Mm,” Jenx said. He pulled his goggles down again.

The trams and autos began moving again. Soon they had peeled away from the main road onto the north route to Grey Podflats (A-D). The driver pulled up in front of the B building. Jenx gave her his card.

The Podflats were inexpensive housing for people who couldn’t afford the little houses towards the city center. Jenx checked his assignment. He needed to reprogram the elevator in building 1.

He went in. A plain young man stood at the reception desk. Jenx nodded at him in greeting.

“I’m here to fix your elevator,” he said.

“Right,” said the man. “The console’s just behind that panelling.”

Jenx pressed in the release code and pulled off the board in front of the console. He scrolled back up through the code.

“That’s odd,” he said.

The young man looked nervously over his shoulder. “What is?”

“Oh, it’s not really odd-odd,” Jenx said quickly. “It’s just a segfault. It looks like someone got into this console and messed it up. You might need to apply for a new passcode.”

“Oh,” the young man said. “Should-- should I get the manager?”

“No, it’s alright,” Jenx said. “I just gotta delete these lines here-- see? Those were messing up it’s memory. It should work now.”

He put the board back in front of the console and pressed the up arrow. The light turned on, and the doors opened. Jenx looked back at the young man, who was staring at the elevator like it was the gateway to Nirvana.

“It’s just coding,” Jenx said. “It’s not magic. If you want, I can tell you how to fix it, in case it happens again.”

“Sure!” the man said. “I’m-- uh-- I’m Mart, by the way.”

“Jenx,” said Jenx. “Here, I have a pamphlet with me.”

He took a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Mart, who took it.

“I always wanted to know how these things worked,” Mart said. He looked down at the paper and mouthed the word, ‘segfault,’ with a kind of reverence.

Jenx laughed a little. “Where are you from?” he asked.

Mart blushed and looked away sheepishly. “Is it so obvious?” he mumbled.

“No! No, I’m just wondering, is all.”

“My dad worked in the galley,” Mart said. “He-- he sent me upside, you know, but I was too old to get into the academy, so, well.”

“Oh,” Jenx said. “Well, it’s never too late to learn, you know?”

Mart brightened. “You-- you really think so?”

Jenx was trying to think up a suitable lie-- after all, no one over 18 could ever have a learning chip installed-- when the elevator dinged behind him. The doors opened, and Vi came out.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Hi, there, Jenx!”

“Vi? What are you doing here?” Jenx asked.

“Well, what you asked me too, of course,” Vi said. “But, uh, I hate to break it to you, but--”

“Yeah, about that--” Jenx said at the same time.

Vi looked at him. “Fell through on your end, too, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jenx said.

“Well, that’s how it goes sometimes,” Vi said. “Don’t feel bad, Jenx. I’ve tried to get people across before, but border’s a lot stricter since the Emp--” She checked herself, looking uneasily at Mart. “Well, you know.”

“I know,” Jenx said. A new order appeared on his goggles. “I gotta--”

“Yeah,” Vi said, “me too. Time to plan for the next party.”

“You do the parties?” Mart asked.

“Mhm,” Vi said. She examined the boy and seemed to find him wanting. “Well, I’ll see you later, Jenx.”

“See you,” Jenx said. And to Mart, he added, “Good luck.”

He went back out into the lovely cool day.