The blaring sirens and footsteps flew past Florence as she stomped through the street with skyscrapers looming over. She clenched her fist, digging the nails into her palm. But before she knew it, she arrived at the coastline. Waves crashed against the seawall, sprinkling water into the air. She breathed in and out. The saltiness tingled at the tip of her tongue as the wind blew.

She turned to her right, looking at the column of smoke and fire blazing throughout District Nine from afar.

“What am I doing here,” she said.

The loud grinding of gear rang in her. Behind her, the androids marched and paroled near the fence encircling the staircase going downwards. Across the ocean, an alluring light shone from within the Walled City, tempting her to go over there, even if it meant getting a step closer to home and her sister.

“What’re you doing here, pleb?” someone asked from behind.

Florence wheeled around. In front of her sat Sam, the cat licking his black and white patterned fur.

“It should be me asking you that question,” Florence said.

“Are you saying that I’m not allowed to be here?” Sam bared his teeth. “Also, get out of my sight, pleb.”

“That is certainly not nice of you.”

“Aye, what about it? You’re getting in the way of me enjoying this view.”

Florence bit her lips.

“I said get out of the way, pleb,” Sam said.

“But you are a cat,” Florence said.

“So, does that obligate you to intentionally block my view?”

“You were not even behind me a moment ago.”

“Aye, so what? This is my favorite spot.”

Florence kneeled down. Her hands stretched out to Sam. He hissed, scratching her hand. She retracted her arm away from him.

“Don’t touch me, pleb,” Sam said.

Florence inhaled a breath of air. “What was that for?”

“Because you’re a bald monkey, pleb.”

Florence patted the dress and apron as it rustled. She looked straight at Sam, making eye contact with him.

“What?” Sam said.

Florence pointed at herself. “I am not bald.”

Sam yawned. He stretched his paws out, sticking his bottom up into the air.

“Aye, you’re,” he said. He stood on his hind legs, flexing his muscles. “Look at me; this is what a fine furry specimen looks like.”

Florence rolled her eyes. Another breeze blew, jumbling her hair and rustling her dress and apron. She shrugged, folding her arm as she shivered.

Sam sniffed. “You cold? Pathetic,” he said.

“So, why are you even here,” Florence said.

“Thinking about my previous life as a pirate. Plus, I got a chess match coming up in like maybe an hour… and catnips.”

“A chess match?”

Sam tilted his head, wagging his tail. His pupils dilated. He stuck out his tongue, dripping saliva onto the ground.

Florence rolled her eyes, picking Sam up. But he clawed at her hand, leaving a scratch mark on her skin. She released her grip around him.

“Did you forget what I said?” Sam landed on his paws, hissing.

“First of all, I am not buying it,” Florence said.

“I’m not even trying to sell you anything, pleb.”

“This is not what I meant. Just… stay here or do whatever you want.”

Florence trudged with heavy footsteps towards the fence, reaching into her apron pocket.

“Hey, do you know where you’re going,” Sam said.

“Maybe,” Florence said. She pulled out her phone, swiping her fingers up the screen. Small images with words at the bottom appeared on the screen. But none of this matched what she wanted to find. “Where is my stat?”

Sam meowed, chasing after Florence.

“What do you want now?” Florence tapped on the phone, figuring out how to check her stats. “Were you not supposed to be enjoying your view or thinking about your chess match?”

Sam nodded. “Aye, what about it? I like to do whatever I want.”

“Where is it?”

“Where is what?”

“I could not find it.”

Sam extended his claws, digging and tugging on Florence’s dress.

Florence turned towards Sam. “Pardon me, what do you want now?” she asked.

“Give me your phone,” Sam said.

Florence, with a plain face, stared at Sam. She lowered her phone, loosening her grip around it.

“By the looks of it, you’re clearly lost like an actual pleb,” Sam said.

“But… you are a cat,” Florence said.

“Aye, you don’t have to repeat it. Just give me your phone.”

“Pardon me, but—”

“Just do it already.”

Florence kneeled down and showed her phone to Sam. Sam pressed his paws on a bar chart image. Then Florence’s stats flashed on the screen.

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Sam widened his eyes. “Error?”

“Do not ask me why,” Florence said. Weird that her stats were still in error. Wouldn’t the Wellor System have identified and corrected this mistake for her? She stood back up, slapping her feet across the ground towards the fence guarded by those pink androids.

“How may I help?” one of those androids asked.

“I would like to enter,” Florence said.

Sam raised his paws in the air. “Me too.”

“Why would you want to enter?” the android asked.

“I want to go to the Walled City,” Florence said, pointing at Sam. “I don’t know about him, though.”

A blue ray of light shoots from the android visor, scanning Florence’s face.

The fence door creaked open.

“You may come in,” the android said. “Good luck, you’ll need it.”

Florence and Sam walked through, going down the staircase to a platform. Florence swept her hand across, brushing away the cobweb blocking her path.

“Why did the androids say good luck to us?” Florence asked.

“Not me, but you.” Sam sneezed. “Go figure. Am I right?.”

“How about you?”

“I’m a cat.”

Florence halted, widening her eyes and staring at Sam.

Sam kept strolling forward, going under the turnstile. He bounced towards a dimly lit platform. “Keep moving, pleb.”

“I know,” Florence said. She forced herself to take a step, going over the turnstile and following Sam. “Why did the androids only check and ask me questions, not you?”

“You’ve already said it yourself like… twice, I think.”

“Right… I almost forgot something important that I had to do.”

Florence and Sam leaped off the platform, clattering crushed rocks below as they landed. The rushing of sewer water muddled a faint scream within the pipes above, ringing in Florence’s ears. In front of them, they inched forward into a tunnel.

A moment later, they reached a door with an electrical warning sign. Florence gripped the handle, pushing the door open with an eerie creak. They stepped inside, where Yuze rested next to the oak table.

“Do you actually know where you’re going?” Sam asked.

“I get the general idea,” Florence said. “But I just have to check on someone before I leave.”

She trudged towards Yuze. Florence lowered herself to the floor, pushing her fingers on Yuze’s carotid artery in the neck. Yuze’s heart pulsed sixty times in one minute, tickling Florence’s skin. Yuze’s eyes stayed half open, glancing at Florence.

A dried-up scab plastered on the bite wound of Yuze’s swollen left thigh. Her skin now burns hot on the touch.

“Done yet, pleb,” Sam said.

Florence pushed herself back to her feet. “Absolutely, everything. I am certain her body is responding fine… for a few days at least. But it is hard to say if we cannot get her to nearby hospitals.”

“Why?”

“I cannot diagnose her alone. There needs to be a full medical team on hand to help.”

“No, I’m asking why Yuze is fine, pleb.”

Sam yawned.

“Pardon me, I will just go… now,” Florence said.

Sam curled into a ball with his front leg resting on his belly. “Whatever, go do what you want.”

Florence turned around, trudging onwards and through the opened door with an electrical warning sign. The crushed rocks shifted under her feet, inching deeper into the tunnel, stepping past a collapsed pipe.

The light flickered.

A loud scratching on the wall and shuffling of crushed rocks echoed from afar behind her.

She spun around. But… nothing.

She inched back. A drip splashed on her head, shivering her spine. A brown slug-like substance trickled down her face. She covered her mouth tight as a rancid odor filled her nostrils. She tilted her head, looking at the ceiling where a pipe leaked those liquids.

Fingers wrapped onto her shoulder.

She jolted her head back down. It was then Aisling appeared.

Blood swashed from Aisling’s mouth.

An ear-piercing screech rang in Florence’s ears, with Aisling dragging the tip of her dagger across a wall.

“I finally found you,” Aisling said.

“What are you doing here?” Florence hugged herself. “I think… you should go to the hospital.”

Aisling coughed, spitting out blood.

“Definitely,” Florence said. “Also, could you know?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” Aisling wiped her mouth, sheathing her dagger.

“Copacetic, how did you find me?”

Aisling tapped the side of her skull a few times.

“Absolutely, you have got a thick skull. A really thick one,” Florence said.

Aisling smacked her palm on her forehead. “This is not what I meant.”

Florence slumped her shoulders, turned around, and continued trudging, plunging further into the tunnel. But Aisling tightened her hold on her, preventing her from moving.

“What do you want?” Florence asked.

“They’re gonna be coming,” Aisling said. “We need to wait for them.”

“Who?”

“Yuze and Stella.”

“Who told you I was here?”

“Yuze.”

“You are joking, right? I am certain she was still asleep.”

“Don’t ask me why. But she could tell you were there a moment ago, even if she is sleeping.”

Florence blinked at Aisling, taken aback by Aisling’s comment.

Around the corner of this tunnel emerged Stella, supporting Yuze as she limped closer to the back of Aisling. But one of Stella’s hands held four packaging boxes, which she hid behind.

“What are you doing here?” Florence asked.

Yuze maintained a blank face with the hue drained out. “Pizza delivery.”

“To District Nine,” Aisling said. “We must first go through Walled City and Beacon Island.”

“Is this legal,” Florence said. She shoved Aisling’s hand away.

“Yes… I mean, no… I think.” Stella shifted her weight from left to right.

An eerie silence rang throughout the tunnel and into Florence’s ears.

“Is this legal at all?” Florence asked.

“I mean, you were about to do it,” Aisling said. “Gonna be honest, we’re kinda breaking the law and not breaking it simultaneously.”

“Pardon me, but why?”

“Food delivery.”

Aisling reached into the pocket of her ripped jeans, bringing out a phone. She swiped her finger up, tapping on the screen. Then she flipped it around, showing what looked like four different receipts, each with its own prices ranging from the millions.

“So, we are killing five birds with one stone,” Florence said.

Aisling shrugged. “Not really. We still got a debt to pay.”

“Yeah,” Yuze said, gazing at Aisling and Stella. “I wonder.”

Florence turned around, trudging away from them. “Copacetic, we should get going.”

“Wait for us,” Aisling said. She put her phone back into the pocket of her ripped jeans and chased after Florence.

The lights suddenly switched off, plunging them into a void. The world suddenly spun upside down. Florence’s stomach twisted. Something underneath her foot cracked. She tilted her head down. At this moment, the light flickered back on, and right below, the skulls of a human stared straight at her. Bones scattered above the crushed rocks, and a rusted gate towered before her.

“Where did all of these come from?” Florence asked.

Aisling coughed, clenching on her chest with a fist. “Florence, what kinda reaction is that? I thought you were gonna scream or vomit like me when I went this deep in this tunnel for the first several times.”

“It is only a bunch of bones, nothing much.”

“Nope, I’m not talking about that.”

“Pardon?”

“We entered the territory haunted by a ghost. So, a few side effects might be happening right about now.”

Suddenly, the bile from her stomach shot up her throat. She bent over, hugging her abdomen. She zipped her lips shut. But this gooey and rancid vomit managed to leak out of her mouth.

“Here we go,” Aisling said. “This is what I was talking about.”

Florence sniffed. “Haunted by a ghost? Why have you not told me earlier?”

“Dumb,” Yuze said.

“Yuze means that she is stupid, Florence,” Aisling said. “Not me… at all.”

“What about all of you?” Florence vomited again. “Why are any of you not vomiting?”

Stella gagged, pushing the stack of packaging boxes closer to her face.

Aisling winked, smiling. “What do you think it is?”

Suddenly, the rusted gate creaked open. Lights flushed in, blinding Florence. An uproar of cheers bursted in as well, ringing her eardrums.

“NPCs, please welcome our next contestants for this month’s chess championship,” someone said in an almost static voice as if speaking through a microphone.