"Going up, miss? Let me hold the door for you."
She nodded. The person in the elevator used his right palm to block the door from closing.
"They can build a building with thousands of floors, but still could not figure out how to make buttons that work."
She smiled a little at the man. She then went to the nearest alpha-numeric keyboard to her in the corner of the elevator. She pressed the number 5, 4, and 7 on the keyboard. The number 547 flashed for a while on the small screen above the elevator door.
There were only two people in the big elevator. The man is dressed in a dark blue suit without a tie. The woman is wearing a sundress and carrying what seemed to be a large box in a black plastic bag.
"Been a while since I last have seen someone from the 500s. Me myself haven't been there since, ah, what year is it again?"
"Don't remember," she replied. "Where do you live, sir?"
"Down at the 300s, although I work at 630."
"I love the 300s. You guys have great food down there."
"True, true. But no food in this part of the building can defeat that one noodle I had in the 500s. I forgot the name already..."
"Madam Ma Noodles?"
"Yes, that's it! You know her?"
"Yeah, she's quite famous around the 500s. You should come sometimes, you know. I heard she now uses white mice in her recipe."
"Oh man, been a while since I ate some mouse. You're very lucky if you can eat mice every day."
"Nah, I still prefer chicken. Oh, look, my floor's coming up. Nice to see you, mister..."
"Dido. Well, that's what they call me anyway." They shook hands.
"Okay, Mr. Dido. The name's Nana. Nana Ma, granddaughter of Madam Ma."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Dido replied as the elevator door opens.
"No, I'm not. Just finished a delivery, in fact." Nana went out of the elevator. "Come by soon, Mr.-lives-in-300s-but-somehow-works-in-600s. I'll give you a discount if you told your boss to lower my shop's rent."
"I'll ask around," Dido said as the elevator door closes.
Nana hummed as she walked by the roadside. The tune was something she used to hear a long time ago, but the title is now forgotten. She looked upwards. The sky is clear with hints of cloud here and there, the same sky as it has been for almost thirty years. The occasional rain and storm did provide some variety to the weather, but for most people living on this side of the building, they could always depend on the weather to ensure their clothes dry on time.
The roadside is lined with shops selling almost everything one could think of, from live animals to cooked animals. There are small shops selling nothing but cards, and big shops selling everything but cards. There's even a shop with boarded-up windows and no signboards in front except for a small paper saying 'Sex Only'.
"Nana!"
She turned her head towards the voice. Arisa ran to her from across the road.
"Where have you been?" Arisa asked.
"421. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in like, three, four days?"
"I've been to block D3," Arisa said, walking beside Nana, panting.
"D3? That's... that's like three days on the train. One-way."
"I know. And no, not three or four days. You haven't seen me for ten days, actually."
"Uh-uh. No wonder it's hard for me to close shop early. The hungry Arisa is not-"
"I found your grandma, Nana. I found Madam Ma."
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Nana looked at Arisa without breaking her pace.
"My grandmother, she has been dead longer than both of us have been alive. I never even saw her in my life."
They reached a small stall with a big umbrella on top and a big table under it that has several empty rectangular metal basins. Next to the table was a metal box with a lid on it filled with water. There was already a queue forming nearby. The line of people extended until the end of the row. There's a small sign hanging from the umbrella with the words 'Madam Ma Noodles: Cookin' Since The Era Of The Outside.'
"There is a small stall at D3," Arisa said. "A small stall just like yours, with the same umbrella and the big table and all these metal whatever, exactly like yours," she said while pointing at the stall. "You know how I love your noodles, Nana. I eat them every single day, at least two times a day."
"Yes, you are my single most faithful customer," Nana replied. "Please wait for a while, I'll get to cooking soon," she said to the line of people waiting for their noodles. She put down the plastic bag she has been carrying and started a fire under the metal box to boil the water.
"Nana, listen to me."
"I'm listening," Nana said, not listening at all. She proceeded to open one of the boxes stacked behind the cart. Inside the box were some chicken slices covered with crushed ice. "This cardboard box, I have no clue why they would use this-"
"The noodles taste exactly the same! Nana, I've been eating here for how long?"
"Too long, Arisa. Too long. And yet you are still not fat at all."
"The soup tastes the same. The noodles have the same consistency. Even the toppings are the same. And the stall has the same words on the same signboard hanging from the same umbrella!"
"Sounds to me like a case of trademark infringement. Can't you do something about it? Or are you powerless outside of block R?"
"I asked her where she learned how to cook the noodles," Arisa continued, ignoring Nana's remark. "She said she's the one who invented it. She said she's Madam Ma."
"People lie, Arisa," Nana said, opening another box. "How does she looks like anyway?"
"She looks old, duh. But surprisingly agile. Also, you know I can take a DNA sample from anyone I like, right? Provided it is to help with an ongoing investigation."
"Actually," Nana stopped in front of Arisa, staring directly into her eyes, "what were you doing in D3?"
"Me and my team were trying to catch the CityBomber. And we succeeded. You're welcome, by the way."
"You caught him? Tell me, is he really that good looking, or was that all just some media lies as usual?"
"He was extremely good-looking, and he was the one who suggested we eat at Madam's Ma. He said that if he could choose his last meal, it would be at Madam's Ma. I told him I had no idea people in D3 know Madam's Ma. You know what he said?"
"What?"
"He said Madam's Ma Noodles has been in D3 since they are still people on the outside.
"I can't believe you actually trust the words of a handsome mass murderer," Nana said. The water has come to a boil. "Three minutes," Nana said to the first person in the queue. "Look, you can take my DNA and check whatever you like, but my grandmother is dead, and even if she is alive, I don't see why she would be at D3 of all places."
"I already have your DNA, remember? Just waiting for the results now, which should come any-"
The chorus of 'Dynamite' rang in the air.
"Nice ringtone," Nana said while blanching the noodles in the boiling water. Arisa shushed her up.
"Uh-uh. Yes, you can send it to my mail. Do you have my address- yes that's my- alright thank you."
"And?"
"They're going to send it right now," Arisa said, scrolling through her phone. "Ah, there it is! Now let us see who the hell is the woman from D3."
"You do realize that she is most probably not related to me, right? So you wouldn't know anything about her unless she's on some list or some-"
"Oh my God."
"What?" Nana said. She put the cooked noodles in a porcelain bowl. "Can you choose your own topping, mister?" she asked the man in front of the line before handing him the bowl. "What is it?"
"Why did you never tell me anything about this?"
"About what?"
Arisa passed her phone to Nana. There is a picture of a seemingly young woman on top of the screen. She felt as if she had seen the woman before. Underneath the picture was written:
NAME: LILI MA
STATUS: WANTED
BOUNTY: UNSPECIFIED*
And further down the screen were written:
RELATIONSHIP WITH < SUBJECT = NANA MA >: BIOLOGICAL** SISTER
"Do you have any white mouse?" the man in front of the line asked.