The building sat in the middle of the capital, close enough to CGI headquarters that the walk wouldn’t be inconvenient. The woman drove us there in silence, showed us the floors with quick, efficient gestures, and left.
Mine was on the second floor. Sherry’s on the fourth. One apartnt per floor, connected by stairs, no elevator, either a deliberate design choice or an oversight nobody had bothered to fix.
I stepped into my apartnt and stopped just inside the door. A bedroom. A living room with two couches. A television mounted on the wall larger than anything I had seen in twenty years on the plain. A refrigerator humming quietly in the corner. I stood there for a long mont, boots planted on clean flooring, and just looked at all of it.
This is mine, I thought. A room with a lock. A refrigerator. Nobody trying to kill .
The plain version of found that funny. The inside version was still getting used to it.
I dropped my bag by the door, pressed it shut with a solid click, and went up the stairs.
Sherry’s door was open. Bright capital light poured straight in through bare windows. She was inside rearranging things that were already organized, moving a cushion half an inch, adjusting a lamp, the specific restless activity of soone who needed her hands busy while her mind worked.
I knocked once on the doorfra and stepped in.
"Hey." I dropped into a chair.
She sighed, a long exhale that carried the weight of the last few days, shoulders dropping as she stood at the kitchen sink.
"How’s the place?" I asked.
"Nice." She turned toward the counter. "Can you help with the curtains?"
I stood. The curtains lay on the floor in neat piles of light fabric, already asured. She handed them to without looking.
"I’ll need paynt for this service," I said.
She smiled without turning around, a small curve at the corner of her mouth.
Then she turned and I caught it.
"You cut it again," I said.
She looked back over her shoulder. "Is it terrible?"
"No." The short brunette hair suited her perfectly, sharp at the jawline, softer on top, framing her face in a way that made her eyes stand out. "It’s not terrible at all."
I pulled a dining chair over, carried it to the window, stepped up, and started fixing the curtain rail. The tal was stubborn, requiring small adjustnts, screws turning under my fingers while the fabric brushed against my arms.
When I stepped down, Sherry was already on the sofa, legs tucked under her, looking around the room with the quiet expression of soone deciding whether a place could beco ho.
I put the chair back and settled onto the other sofa.
The apartnt was quiet. Capital quiet, different from the plain’s vast silence and different from Hogsby’s tense hush. Just the low hum of the refrigerator and the faint sounds of the city far below the windows.
Sherry’s gaze drifted to . She didn’t speak. Neither did I. We simply sat there in the new space, the weight of everything we had carried back from the plain still settling between us.
"I’m hungry already," I said.
Sherry looked at , one eyebrow lifting slightly. "You’re really settling in. That’s not sothing you’d expect from soone who grew up outside."
"Yeah," I said.
She got up in one smooth motion, bare feet padding across the floor to the refrigerator. The door opened with a soft hiss of cold air. She ca back with two bottles, handed one, then tucked herself back into the sofa, legs curling under her.
"Did you ever think about it?" she asked, twisting the cap off her bottle. "That people were actually living like this while you were out there?"
"No," I said, working the cap loose with my thumb. It gave a sharp tallic click. "There was no ti to think. The infected didn’t allow it."
She laughed, pulling both feet fully onto the sofa, knees drawn up.
"I actually hated the walls when I ca in," she said, watching take the first sip. "Hated the people inside them. I ca with Max with one purpose. Open the walls for everyone." She looked around the room, eyes tracing the clean lines of the walls and the large television. "But when you’re actually inside, you lose the starting point. And now I’m enjoying it." She shook her head slightly, a small, rueful smile pulling at her lips. "What a journey."
"Yeah," I said. "And we’re neighbors again."
She nodded. "Only no hole in the wall this ti. Like at Hogsby."
I stopped drinking mid-sip.
"You knew about that hole?"
She laughed. Full, unguarded, head tilting back so the line of her throat caught the light.
We were both still laughing when the knock ca, two sharp raps against the door.
Sherry uncurled from the sofa in a fluid twist, bare feet hitting the floor. She crossed the room. I heard a brief, low exchange at the door, then she ca back in.
Max Donman was behind her.
The smile was already fixed on his face when he entered, but it weathered slightly the mont his eyes found sitting on the sofa, the specific adjustnt of a man who had expected one thing and found another.
"Didn’t tell you Max was coming," Sherry said lightly, moving toward the refrigerator again.
"Hey, bro," Max said, dropping into the chair she had vacated. His posture was relaxed, but his shoulders stayed a fraction too tight.
"Hey," I said.
Sherry returned with a bottle of juice and handed it to him, then crossed straight to my sofa.
"Move a bit," she said.
I shifted. She settled in beside , almost on my legs, thigh pressed warmly against mine, close enough that it was clearly a choice.
Max watched the whole thing, smile still in place, eyes doing their own quiet calculation.
"Nice place," he said, glancing around the room. "I ca to help with fixing but it seems you’ve managed."
"A friend like you can always co," Sherry said. "Anyti, Max."
He wasn’t very lively. His eyes kept moving, between us, the sofa, the space between our bodies. "How was Hogsby?" he asked.
"Best thing that happened to ," Sherry said without hesitation. Then she turned to . "Not so, Bram?"
"Yeah," I said, reading the tightening at the corner of Max’s jaw.
I stood up.
"You two should catch up," I said. "I’ll give you the room."
"Not necessary," Sherry said quickly.
"We’re fine," Max added, which was the least convincing thing either of them had said.
"We’ll link up later," I said, and walked out.
The door clicked shut behind with a solid, final sound.
I stood in the hallway for a mont, the quiet of the building pressing in, the low hum of air systems, distant footsteps sowhere above. Then I headed down the stairs, boots soft on the steps, hand sliding along the cool tal railing.
I turned toward my door.
A person carrying a large box ca around the corner at the sa mont and walked directly into . The collision was solid. The box tumbled, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. She went down with it, legs tangling, body twisting as she tried to catch herself.
I moved fast, grabbing the box and lifting it clear off her in one motion. The cardboard was warm from her hands, slightly dented at the corner.
Long black hair spilled across the floor like ink. Sunglasses sat askew on her face. Early twenties. Slim fra. The kind of effortless grace that even being knocked down couldn’t fully hide.
[LEWD LEVELING SYSTEM]
[Carrise Vale.]
[Primordial family. Mark required.]
[Build the bond first.]
The notification flashed cold and bright behind my eyes. I looked at her, really looked, and understood that the walls had just confird everything Eleanor had told .
The world isn’t so large, Eleanor’s voice echoed in my mind. Everything finds its way.
"I’m so sorry," I said, voice low. I extended my hand.
She took it.
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