Florence’s eyes flew open, staring at the smoke floating below the spots of mold spread across the ceiling. The onyx walls towered over her, but the top of it was left open. A splinting ache erupted from her forehead, shoulder, and back. An acrid and dead odor wrapped around her, filling her nostrils. A buzzing in her skull drowned the clicks and muffled chatter outside the room.

She groaned, rolling onto her side over the carpet. Inches away from the tip of her nose was Aisling, who snoozed on the carpet floor.

“Did ya seriously wake up before I finish my business?” Chloe asked. She tapped the screen of her phone with her feet resting on the metal box with two locks sitting atop a desk.

Lucy yelped, shrinking into herself with Sam kneading his paws on her lap.

“I’m going to get ya some beer after this,” Chloe said. “Or do ya like some ale?”

Florence shrugged, raising her eyebrows. “All of us?”

Chloe stopped tapping the screen. She turned her head, glaring at Florence. Her fingers whitened around the frame of her phone. She sighed, shoving her hands into the pockets of her zipped jacket and leaning back on the door. The hinges creaked.

“Pardon me, how did we get here anyways?” Florence asked.

“Big mistake,” Chloe said. “Unless ya want to get into deep trouble with the Wellor System. Do ya?”

Aisling yawned, stretching her legs and arms. Her palm slapped Florence’s face. Florence groaned, pushing Aisling’s hand away from her.

Chloe clicked her tongue. “Do ya understand me?”

“Did we pay for our medical bills?” Aisling blinked, squeezing in between her eyes. “Wait… where’re we exactly?”

“Should I not be surprised if the medical bills are in the trillions?” Florence asked. “But, pardon me, where are we?”

Chloe nodded.

Florence sighed, lowering her head. Her shoulders slumped. She covered her forehead, shaking her head.

Chloe crossed her arms. “What’s taking him—”

A knock rattled the door.

Florence raised her head up, turning towards. Aisling rested on the wall with her palm behind her nape and winked at Florence.

The carpet floor rumbled beneath them as Lucy jumped onto her feet. Her arms wrapped around Sam’s chest. He choked, swiping his claws in the air.

The hinges creaked as the door swung open.

Towering over Florence, Aisling, Lucy, Chloe, and Sam was a…

“Steve?” Aisling tilted her head. “What’re you doing here?”

“Who is Steve?” Florence asked.

“By the way, you’re fired,” Steve said.

Aisling slapped her lips together, widening her eyes. She slanted forward, pointing at her nose with her index finger.

Chloe slapped her fingers. Then she jabbed at the screen of her phone.

“Pardon me, is that the bloke from the cafe or something?” Florence asked. “What is he doing here anyway?”

“Come on, you can’t just kinda fire me like that.” Aisling spread her arms out.

The hinges creaked as Steve pressed his elbow on the door. With one hand, he reached into the pocket of his jeans. Then he pulled out his phone, tapping on the screen.

A ding rang throughout the room.

Chloe slipped her phone back into the pocket of her zipped jacket. “Nice.”

Steve grinned, revealing his uncanny teeth. He wiggled his index finger in a rolling motion at the metal box with two locks resting under Chloe’s heel. Chloe rolled her eyes, kicking his feet up. She grabbed the healing serum package and tossed it over her head.

Steve snatched it out in the air. He gave a thumbs up, stepping backward. The door slammed shut in front of him.

“Not going to lie here, ya are all over the news,” Chloe said. “And I’m sure those pink androids are coming after you.”

Aisling staggered onto her feet. “Hey, you can’t fire me like that. Could you hear me?”

Chloe rolled across the carpet, blocking Aisling’s path.

“What’re you doing?” Aisling squinted her eyes, furrowing her brow. She stepped over Chloe, reaching for the exit.

Chloe gripped Aisling’s ankle, tripping her over.

Aisling fell. Her chin hit the floor with a muffled thud.

Florence stood up, opening her palm and putting it before herself. “How about not getting too violent here?”

Aisling groaned, rotating onto her back. She rubbed her knuckle against her chin.

“Ya called that violence?” Chloe clicked her tongue. She released her grip from Aisling’s ankle. “Give me a break or something. Couldn’t ya?”

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Florence raised her eyebrows, pushing her fist into her hip.

“Come on, did ya seriously think I brought ya with me for your safety?” Chloe asked.

Aisling covered her forehead, swinging her legs back and forth. “At least, let me try to appeal to my manager.”

“So… what about it?”

“I needed that money to—”

Chloe snatched her phone out, showing the screen to Florence and Aisling. A bright light blinded Florence.

“Ya have a lot of explaining to do,” Chloe said.

Florence blinked, clearing her vision. In front of her, the phone monitor showed hers, and Aisling’s and Yuze’s contracts were renewed with the Wellor System. Florence raised her eyebrows, clenching her knees. It also said something about not trusting the ones closest to them.

Chloe took a pistol from the pocket of her zipped jacket and aimed the barrel at Florence. The front and rear sights aligned with her forehead.

A click rang.

“Pardon me, how did you receive that?” Florence raised her hands up with her palms open.

Aisling shrugged, scratching her chin. “That’s kinda the biggest bluff that I’ve seen.”

“What did ya say to me?” Chloe said. She switched her target to Aisling, jabbing the muzzle between her eyes.

Lucy yelped, curling up into a ball at the corner of the room. She shoved Sam onto her chest, muffling his meows.

“Do not shoot,” Florence said. “I know… where Stella and Mai are at.”

Chloe turned her head towards Florence, glaring at her. Chloe’s fingers whitened around the handle. Then she sighed, putting the pistol back into the pocket of her zipped jacket.

Aisling smiled, clasping her hands together. “I kinda knew you wouldn’t do it.”

Lucy widened the gap between her legs, peeping between her knees at Chloe.

“Where are they?” Chloe asked.

“Stella is at the tunnel connected to the Walled City,” Florence said. She clutched the side of her hospital gown. “And… Mai… she went to a better place… hopefully.”

“Did ya see her actually die?”

“Absolutely not… I was not there in time. She might have been burnt alive in her own home, I am certain of it.”

“So, did ya actually get her corpse?”

Florence closed her eyes, wrapping them around her mind, and remembered what had happened that night. An acrid stench burned her nostrils. The heat danced and tingled on her skin. But… then she shook her head.

“In other words, she is not dead,” Chloe said.

“Pardon me, how would you know that?” Florence asked. “It is not like you saw her get taken away. Is it correct?”

Aisling smacked her lips, wiggling her toes. “Chloe kinda got a point. Well… how am I gonna explain this?”

An eerie silence floated in the air, slicing through the conversation between Florence, Aisling, and Chloe. Florence’s eyes darted back and forth from Aisling to Chloe. Florence sank her nails into her palm, pulling at her hospital gown and wrinkling it.

“It isn’t because ya just entered District Nine,” Chloe said. “But ya saw something that ya shouldn’t have seen. That’s the reason they’re coming for you.”

Florence bit her lips. “Pardon me, what do you mean by that?”

Chloe slanted forward, crossing her legs. She placed her palm on her knees, squinting her eyes at Florence. Florence jerked her head back, glancing away from Chloe.

Aisling stood back up onto her feet. She thumbed at the exit. “I’ll just kinda… you know. So, you guys keep on chit-chatting.”

Chloe, without looking at Aisling, gripped her on the hospital gown.

Aisling pouted, leaning against a wall. “Am I a kinda kid or something to the point you must do that?”

Chloe nodded, tugging at Aisling’s hospital gown.

Aisling yelped, wrapping her arms around herself. “Hey, don’t do that.”

“But in all seriousness, we have to go,” Florence said.

“What?” Chloe furrowed her brow. “Ya had to be insane to go back out there.”

“Except for me, I won’t get fired this time.” Sam stretched his paws out from between Lucy’s legs. “Especially not getting fired because of those two nutcase plebs.”

“Seriously, we’re kinda not nutcases,” Aisling said.

Chloe patted the pocket of her zipped jacket. “Did ya all forget that I’ve something else?”

“Pardon me, you do realize what happens next?” Florence asked. She stumbled onto her feet, patting her thigh. “It would not be just us that they are looking for. Unless you want to meet a fate worse than death, as you said?”

Chloe clicked her tongue, releasing her grasp from Aisling. Then Chloe smacked her knees, lowering her head.

Sam meowed, squeezing his head out from between Lucy’s legs. He brushed his whiskers, staring at Florence, Aisling, and Chloe. He meowed, dilating his pupils.

Chloe smacked her forehead. “What do ya want from me now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sam hissed, swiping his claws in the air. “Get me out of here, pleb. Or are you too stupid to understand what I said?”

“So, do ya want them to take ya away from here?”

“Aye… I mean, nay… Why can’t I find my words today? Did one of you plebs steal it?”

Aisling spun around. She pinched Sam on his scruff, picking him up. He hissed, pulling his ears back. His claws slashed across the air, missing Aisling’s face.

Florence took a step forward. Her muscles strained. The nerves in her body shrieked. She collapsed, falling face flat onto the carpet floor. She groaned, lifting her chin up and massaging her forehead.

“Did you kinda forget about that already?” Aisling asked.

A knock rattled the door.

Florence, Aisling, Sam, Chloe, and Lucy turned their heads toward it.

“Pardon me, is there by any chance that you invited another customer here?” Florence asked.

Chloe pulled a pistol from her pocket, hiding it on her back as she tiptoed to the exit. She shook her head. Her palm pressed against its surface, pushing it open with a creak.

In front of her, Steve grinned, revealing his uncanny teeth as he stood in the corridor. But… the metal box containing the healing serum given to him… where did it go? He pulled his fist back. In a blur, his knuckle cracked against her nose.

She flew off, crashing through the wall. The thin debris scattered across the carpet.

Lucy yelped, wrapping her arms around herself.

Aisling widened her jaw. “What was that—”

The sole of Steve’s foot smashed into Aisling’s cheek. The back of her head slammed against the floor. She released her pinch on Sam, tossing him up to the ceiling.

The rubbles trembled.

He extended his legs out, diving toward Steve’s face.

Sam scratched deep into Steve’s skin. But… not a drop of blood leaked out of his gash. Instead, underneath it, the bone made of steel screeched against Sam’s claws.

“Bad kitty,” Steve said. He snatched Sam on his scruff. Then Steve pulled his arm back as if readying to throw Sam across the other side of the world.

Sam hissed, baring his teeth.

“Kinda do it. I dare you,” Aisling said with her voice muffled. “Believe me, you’re gonna be canceled after everyone witnesses this… probably?”

Steve set Sam aside on the carpet floor.

Aisling sighed. “Why does this always—”

Steve kneeled down, grabbing Aisling by the hair on her ginger ponytail. He stood up and yanked her up into the air. Her feet dangled inches away from the debris.

She screamed, latching onto his wrist.

Florence clenched her fist. “Enough of this baloney. Or else I—”

Steve spun, swinging Aisling around himself. Her chest smacked against Florence’s chin, sending her soaring up to the ceiling. Her head crashed into its surface before she got dragged back down…