A few hours after my...meeting with Yis, I was once more sitting in my apartment. Rubbing a few of the more tender spots on my ribs, I sigh and pull up the holo-server connected to the chair. News of my last contract had spread like wildfire ...heh...and my little blog had experienced quite the growth itself. Thea had detected several hundred independant hackers trying to trace it's origin, while the government has been steadily probbing various servers around the city in hopes to somehow backtrack to me. A commendable effort, but unfortunately for them Thea had already wiped those lines of coding from existence.

The cleaning bot was sitting in it's corner under the small lean-to I had built for it. A bit strange, but boredom inspires me to do such things. Admittedly though, spending several hours personalizing the bot and it's small home was over-kill. It's top had been painted into a form of tuxedo, complete with a three-dimensional bowtie. Don't judge me, I'll shoot you.

Anyway, moving my attention back to the Neo-web, my sight lingers on an article reguarding the 'coronation' of one of one of the richest heirs in the glimmer district. A nagging feeling tickles the back of my neck, and I sigh as I click the link to the related page. It opens with the sound of trumpets popping while psuedo-confetti bursts from the hologram and around the room. It scared the shit out of me, yes, but I'm more annoyed at the mess it made in my chair. The cleaning bot hurries to suck up the unwanted surprises, but only phases through their holographic structure. Slowly, they start to dissipate, but that does little to quell my annoyance.

Sighing once more, I begin scrolling through the announcement. Each second that passes causes my lips to widen slightly, and eventually I am left with a strangely manic smile plastered on my face. "Thea," I say," unblock that number from earlier and connect it to my earpiece." Pulling said instrument from a small pocket on the side of my chair, I hold it to the side of my head, slightly away from my ear.

Within three seconds of the call going out, a dangerously ear-splitting shreek comes through the reciever. Grimacing, I slip the small device into my ear. "What have I told you about doing that, Arrabel?"

The voice that responds to me is genuinely youthfull, unlike that imitation Yis is so fond of in public. Even now I can picture the girl on the other line struggling to keep her feet-and voice- still as she attempts to respond in a somewhat calmer matter. "You blocked me! I used all my allowance to find your number, and you blocked me without even replying!" Oh? It sounds like she's about to cry...

Sighing, I try to convey an apologetic tone while scrolling further down the announcement page. "I was taking a shower, and in a bad mood. I'm replying now though. Reguardfing why I'm calling back, little Arra seems to be growing up, huh? Though if your father's site surprises me like that again I'm going to stop visiting it."

She goes silent during my talk, then ferverently apologizes for the confetti, making some promise that it would never happen again, blah blah blah. When she finally manages to calm down, her voice turns rather meek. "So...you...you'll come?" she asks.

Holding back a sigh, as that would certainly not convey the image of a willing date, I smile to put a little more charisma into my reply. "You think I'd miss the chance to see you squirming in front of thousands of nobles and cameras? I'd love to be your guest." Judging by the muffled shriek and repeated thumps, I'd say she's jumping around and celebrating.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Is it really that important to her? It'll be awful when I ruin it... not my problem, but still a bit sad. Once she works her way through her little happy-fit, I hear her steadying her breath before bringing the reciever back to her mouth. "Can...we, um...h-hold...." Oh gods, not this again. She's almost nineteen and still has the romantic capability of a child. Seriously, the hell is wrong with those rich pricks? "Arra, dear," I say," we can do just about whatever you want, so long as it doesn't conflict with my arrangement with your father."

The word 'dear' has it's intended effect,and she simply squeals in a mix of joy and happiness as I pull the earpiece away from my head. After about half a miute, she quietens down enough for me to put it back. "I'll be by your place the morning of the party, and if you track my number again, I won't bring a present."

Hanging up before she can complain or attempt to bargain with me, I return the earpiece to it's place in the chair and finish reading the last bit of the announcement. "Fucking dawnweed addicts..." I say, then push down the urge to reach for my own supply.

Rolling my neck, I feel a satisfying crack then dismiss the holo-board and stand. Taking the time to stretch and ellicit similar phenomena from various other parts of my body, I yawn and make my way towards the small refrigerator and open it by pressing the mana-pad on it's door. Half an hour later I'm eating a simple meal while flipping through the various blueprints I've aquired over the years. Names, details and faces are a specialty of mine, but rigid lines and detailed maps are unfortunately difficult to remember. Holding up a particularly large copy of the main building that houses the company owned by Arrabel's father, I trace a few strangely vacant areas of the map.

It's obvious that these places, and even a whole floor were made privately, and I want in. Not to steal or destroy anything, but merely out of a slight interest. If what I find within them creates the compulsion to do either of those things, however...mmmm...

Steering myself away from that luctrative, and yet self-destructive train of thought, I put down the schematics and pick up a different one. Knowing it would be a late night, I tell Thea to lower the temperature to almost freezing in an attempt to make staying awake easier.

--------

The next morning I wake up on the floor, still sitting up with a map of the Stall District and it's interconnecting sewers in my lap. Yawning while I attempt to stand, I almost immediately fall forward and catch myself with my forearms. "Fucking...legs... Thea! Charge me." I call out. It takes a few moments for her to whir to her fully-functioning state and reply with a simple, "Yes, sir."

The cleaning bot makes a few low beeping noises before the flashing green light that comes from it's core proccesor turns from green to a bright purple. It takes a moment to run a diognostics check before rolling over to my position.

Pulling my pants off, I stare down at the mechanical prosthetics that have become my legs from the knee down. Aside from a few lightly glowing ley-lines that wind their way down in place of veins, and two 'power outlets' they look no different from the rest of my skin. Pushing away the flashbacks that threaten to -mentally- cripple me for the next few hours, I pull my dawnweed from the pocket of my discarded pants and slip a leaf into my mouth.

Falling back on top of the various schematics on the floor, I do my best to ignore the tingling sensation that runs up my thighs as the Thea-controlled bot inserts an external charging port into the acces point just below my ankle. By the time my right leg is fully charged, the dawnweed's symptoms are already pushing away the memories I'd rather forget.

"Thea...order yourself a body....you pick it.......something................small." I say, then notice just how sleepy I am once more. There must have been a defect in the leaf, that happens at times, though very rarely from my supplier. I can worry aout that later though...right now, I need sleep.