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Mrs. Dunn's sharp gaze remained fixed in the distance, her eyes, though keen, revealing weariness etched upon her thin, haggard face. Her greying hair was neatly tied in a bun at the back of her head. A dusty long overcoat hung loosely over her thin frame, and in her hands were a couple of grocery bags. Despite her fatigue, she stood tall and poised, her eyes still fixed on Ryder's fleeing truck.

"Mom," Will called out as he rushed over. He took the grocery bags from her hands.

"Thank you, honey," said Mrs. Dunn. "Was that Damian in that truck?"

"Um, yes," said Will.

Mrs. Dunn sighed. "I wish you'd stop interacting with that one."

"He is still my cousin, mom."

"Cousin! What cousin?" Mrs. Dunn said severely. "It's been five years, and has his mother even bothered to visit even once? Probably tore up all the invitations."

"Mom—" Will tried to interject.

"Is this even a family? And don't even get me started on your cousin. What kind of crowd is he running with? The things I hear. Smuggling, racketeering, extortion..."

Will chuckled and let her rant. The cans in the grocery bags rattled as they made their way up some stairs. They ascended until they could see the giant foundation pylon up close.

"—always been a bad apple," Mrs. Dunn finished with a huff. "Now you stay clear of him."

"Mom," said Will wearily. They crossed another bridge, and two armored guards approached them.

"No buts," she patted Will on the back. "I wish your dad was still here. He would have been so proud. Another crafter in the family. Oh..." She paused, and her eyes lit up. "Today was the test, wasn't it? How did it go?"

"Well, I—" began Will.

"Madam Dunn," one of the guards called out. He was fully decked out in a skintight matte black exo-suit; thin grey armor plating covered the vital areas. The helmet visor was tinted black, hiding his face completely.

Behind him strode a second guard in a similar suit with a rifle slung across his back.

"Greyson," Mrs. Dunn nodded. She squinted at the second guard before addressing him. "Tim?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the younger guard.

Mrs. Dunn nodded. "I had a talk with your mother the day before."

"Ah..." The second guard froze.

"Sheila, Meena, and Keena are some nice girls. Did none of them catch your fancy? When are you going to settle down?"

Even through the armor, Tim looked uncomfortable.

"You can't stay alone for too long. You are reaching that age."

The older guard, Greyson, coughed lightly. "Mrs. Dunn, we are coming to you with something serious. Some of the boys are in quite a bad way. They are patched up for now but they need medical attention."

"Oh, heavens. How bad?"

"Not life-threatening. We were hoping that you could smooth things along the way."

"Bring them over to the clinic. I'll talk to a few people."

"Who were they attacked by?" Will interrupted the conversation.

"The Revenant," said Tim darkly.

"Attacks have been ramping up lately," said Mrs. Dunn. "We'll be counting on you in the days to come."

Both guards dipped their heads in acknowledgment. Mrs. Dunn reached into the grocery bag and brought out a can of soup; and handed it to Tim. "Make sure to eat well and tell your mother that I said hello."

Tim awkwardly took the soup can in one armored hand.

Will and his mother left the guards behind and headed up the bridge. Up ahead was a gatehouse with a gun turret on top. They passed more patrolling guards as they went under the gatehouse. Will began to suspect that the Revenant attack was a lot more serious than Greyson had portrayed.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Their apartment was on the third floor, and they were met with a dimly lit corridor as they alighted the stairs. The overhead lights flickered as they made their way down the passageway.

Will stopped and stared at the lights. His mother made her way to the door at the end of the passage and fiddled with her keys. "That has been going on since morning."

"Let me take a look at it," said Will. He walked to the side, opened up the fuse box, and set the grocery bags down to inspect the breakers.

"Looks okay... could be the stabilizer."

The entirety of the Undercity was leaching off power from the tower. It didn't make for the most reliable power source.

His mother unlocked the door. Club music came from the apartment. There was the thump of something falling and the sound of scrambling feet.

"Ellie!" his mother exclaimed.

"Oh, hi Mum. I was about to head out," a girl squeaked.

"And where do you think you are going at midday cycle?"

"Just to Clarence's."

"Oh no, you are not!"

"Clarence?" Will frowned. Clarence was a ratty kid from Bunker 2-34. Last he checked, the runt was running amongst the Cirkavas, a low-level Undercity street gang.

"Get changed," Mum said sternly.

"Mum!"

"Now!"

"Ugh!" There was the sound of stomping feet, followed by a door slam.

Will shut the fuse box and picked up the grocery bags. He made the few steps to the apartment and nudged the door open with his shoulder.

The small apartment was cramped. The kitchen and sink were right next to the door. Apart from that, there was space enough for a single bed.

A six-legged drone bounded down the apartment and nuzzled Will's leg.

"Hello Scout!" Will shifted his bags to one hand and patted the turtle shaped drone. "Who's a good boy?"

Scout yipped in delight at the attention. The chrome and silver turtle had a flattened ovoid shell and long foldable legs. As for a head, it didn't have any, except for a small bump in the front, making it a turtle in name only. The bot crooned as Will petted its hexagonal patterned shell. Scout was a lot more mundane compared to the broken drone Will found in the vert train, but he wouldn't trade him for the world.

The main difference was the chips that ran their programming. Scout's chip was a much lower-end model and didn't need an ether casing to protect its circuits. Q-tunneling occurs when transistor size approaches the nanometer scale. Anything above that was resistant to psionic interference.

The storage in the lower-end chips was so low that Remy had to code in assembly to bring Scout online. It was one of the first programs that the two of them had worked on together.

"Your battery's low, boy," said Will. "Go charge up."

The bot shook itself like a dog and scuttled to a nearby power socket.

Will straightened up and tapped a thin rectangular sensor next to the door. The device beeped once and announced, "Rad levels normal." The door shut on its own and sealed itself with a hiss.

Will hoisted the grocery bags into the small room. Meanwhile, his mother released the latch of the fold-down table hung above the bed and lowered it down.

Will placed the grocery bags on the table and began arranging the canned food.

"Prices are shooting up," his mother sighed as she opened one of the cans. "Let's hope the embargo doesn't last too long."

"Ellie's fees are due," said Will. "I got my hands on some parts today. With a good buyer, I could—"

His mother stuffed a few bits of canned meat into his mouth before he could finish. The synthetic spam was soaked to the brim with brine, and Will felt his mouth dry up.

Mrs. Dunn picked up her handbag. "See that Ellie eats. I'll head to the clinic and check on the guards."

She headed out, and the front door swung closed. Just as it was about to seal itself, his mother held it open. She stuck her head in through the doorway. "Make sure she doesn't sneak out."

Will gave a wry smile as the front door sealed itself. Sure enough, muffled sounds of furniture being moved came from his sister's room. Will chuckled and shook his head.

Taking the plate of spam, Will headed to Ellie's door and knocked. There was no answer.

"If you're thinking about climbing out of the window, then forget about it."

There was a slam, and Ellie stormed out of her room, fuming. Will pushed the plate of food into her hands, and she angrily stuffed her face. "She never lets me do anything. It's not fair."

"Sit down and eat," Will settled at the table and waited for Ellie to join him. "And what's this I hear about Clarence?"

"Oh, not you too," Ellie groaned.

"I thought I could meet him, that's all."

"Is there more food?" Ellie evaded, and Will dropped the subject. He rummaged through his pockets and brought out the kerchief-wrapped apple. There was no point in pressuring Ellie. He would have to find out more about the kid on his own.

Will handed the wrapped apple to Ellie, who looked at it quizzically. "What is it?"

"Open it and see," said Will.

She unwrapped the kerchief and found the apple. "Oh my god! Is this from the farms?"

"No, it's from Hallucia mountains. Eat up," Will smiled as Ellie gushed over the fruit.

"Let me grab a knife," began Ellie, but Will stopped her.

"Don't bother. I already had some," said Will. "Go on, have a bite."

Ellie grinned and took a bite out of the apple and gave a happy jig. "Oh wow, it's so sweet... tart and tangy! I have been looking for recipes with fruits. It was all with artificial ones. None with the real stuff. Oh, there are so many culinary schools on the upper floors..."

Ellie chattered on about schools that she wanted to visit and famous chefs that she wanted to meet. Will smiled and nodded along.

"—I wish I could go to the upper floors," finished Ellie.

"You will," said Will. "Soon enough."

"Really?!"

"Sure thing, munchkin. What do you think mom and I have been doing all this while?" said Will. "Soon, we will all be settling in the upper tower."

Ellie cheered, and Will pushed her plate towards her. "You've had your dessert; now finish your spam."

"Okay!"

Will was somber while Ellie ate. He really needed to figure out a way to make that thirty thousand.

For a moment, the room was silent except for the clinking of cutlery on plates. Will was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought, when the overhead lights dimmed. The bulbs flickered and crackled with static.

"There it goes again," said Ellie.

Will straightened up. Even if he couldn't figure out how to get his family to the upper floors, he could at least fix up his house. "Scout, get my tool box."