Darius walked up to the Rec Center. He had his pack slung over his shoulder. It wasn’t a long walk from their dorm, and he could have showered there, but he never did. Everyone always stared at him without staring at him. Any discussions would stop. He had never felt like he belonged around the others. He knew he didn’t look any different from the rest of the guys, but stare at him, they would. They always tried to see where he was different from them.

He never saw the other engineered player, Brock, hang around the locker room much, either.

And it was late. After the game blew right up with Bucky throwing his fit on the mound when Coach called Brock in to close, then add the trophy ceremony and everything afterward. Finally, after all that, he was allowed to go see the medical team and get his bandages changed.

The Rec Center looked deserted and closed up for the night—a flat glass building with most of the lights already off.

He had draped his sideline warmer over his uniform. He hadn’t even bothered to take off his shin guards, and his cleats clicked-clacked on the concrete stairs of the entrance. The sliding glass doors “whooshed” open in front of him as he finished climbing the front steps.

He passed through the entrance and approached the counter. A city girl was behind the counter, thin and tall, with straight black hair and bangs. She stared into a small compact mirror, applying lip gloss. He stepped forward, placed his pack on the ground, and fished for his pass. He stood, holding it up to her. She didn’t look up. She wore a crisp black shirt with a neatly pressed undersized collar. There was a Rec Center crest on her left pocket that looked like it belonged on an Ivy League school uniform.

“Go in. This is end.” She still hadn’t glanced up. Her accent was staccato. Harsh. “Tomorrow, don’t come here.”

A loud crash from the doors behind them made them jump and turn. The drone had followed him, and it had struck the closed sliding doors. It drifted backwards, recoiling from the impact, and then crashed back into the closed doors. The opening sensor seemed to be having difficulty detecting the drone. The doors slid open partially, hesitated, then came together, causing another impact.

‘Crash!’

The girl glared at Darius with a look of pure hatred.

“I’m sorry. It’s new.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know it came.”

“Turn it off.” She waved at it.

“Um… I’m not sure I know how.”

With an angry hand she thumbed her mirror down onto the counter with a frustrated “clack” and notched up the heat of her glare a few degrees.

“This is your problem, not my problem.”

“Ya. I thought it was turned off. But maybe it had just gone to sleep. I didn’t know it followed me here.” He stepped back between the doors as they began to open and let the drone hover through them.

“They said you see with it. Drone show you everything in little window in your eye.” She pointed to his bandage. “People said you cheat against our team.”

“Ah… I didn’t cheat. It’s just what they gave me. It’s in the rules.”

“Not fair. You don’t see through it now? See it following? Know it’s not sleeping?”

“Um… I… Good question. I guess I don’t notice the little display in my eye unless I think about it.”

“You should try to think more, little boy. Or maybe they not make your brain smart when they make you.”

“Ah… ok?”

She had put her gaze back to her mirror, done toying with him. “Towels inside. Take from pile.” She thrust her thumb over her shoulder, dismissing him.

He proceeded down the hallway and dismissed her behaviour as someone who had just had their team lose. He went through another set of sliding glass doors, this time stopping in the sensor area and waiting for the drone.

A second counter identical to the first was neatly stacked with perfectly matching clean white folded towels. As he reached for a towel, a girl stood up. The same girl.

“You don’t take. I give.” Same girl, same hair, same clothes. Darius glanced back to the first counter.

The girl was sitting there, her back to them, still staring into her compact mirror.

“My sister. A bitch. She likes to make trouble. She tell you to take towel?” This girl was wearing a silver whistle around her neck, like a coach, or more likely, she was a lifeguard.

“Well…”

“Here.” She tilted her head with a fake grin and fluttering eyelashes. “I give you one.” She handed him a towel. “My job to give towels.”

“Thank you,” Darius replied.

“Door not locked but locked soon. No swim. No lifeguard. You only shower.”

“What about you?” He pointed at her whistle, smiling.

“Lifeguard off duty. Give towels.”

“Ok,” he said, still smiling. She did not smile back. His face fell. “Uh… that’s all I wanted anyway. Just a shower. Thank you.” He began to head down the hallway, the drone drifting after him.

“This drone. I saw it at the game. Metal ball. Why not plastic spider with helicopter blades like other drones?”

“Ah. The camera crew guys set it up today. I don’t know. They were saying it was like a military version or something. It was made by the same people that are making the towers. It’s supposed to be tough in case it gets hit by a ball or bat or someone runs into it.”

“What do you name it?” She stepped from behind her counter into his path. She passed her hand under the drone, curious about how it was hovering.

Darius raised his eyebrows. “I don’t call it anything. It just feels like I have a movie camera following me around.”

She tapped at its side with a sharp fingernail, a little, “tic-tic-tic.” The drone recoiled. “Everything has name.” She stepped to the other side of the drone and gave it a shove. “Even clouds have name. This thing smarter than cloud. You should name it.”

She traced a fingernail close to the number zero it wore.

“Zero. I guess it name Zero.” She backpedalled to the counter. “And no lift weights!” she called after him. “No safe. No sue.”

“Yep. Just a non-dangerous shower, I promise.” He flourished the towel over his shoulder.

Through the visual from the drone feed, he caught whistle girl spin and gesture to her sister through the glass, middle finger extended. Without even turning around, mirror girl returned the gesture.

On the far side of another set of sliding doors, Darius found an old janitor with a mop and pail on the pool deck. The deck gleamed. The man was thick and stocky. Overweight and bald with dark wiry facial hair that could never grow into a beard. His forehead and neck were a mass of wrinkled slabs.

The cleaner grunted towards Darius, slopped his mop into the pail, and pushed his way through the doors to leave the pool deck deserted.

Overhead spotlights reflected off the tranquil pool surface, a perfect pattern of shimmering moons over columns delineating the swimming lanes painted slippery black in the bottom deep. He walked past a neat row of tables, the judge’s stations. Behind them was a bank of bleachers folded up into a wall of drawers. On the far side of the pool stood a glass wall displaying a vista filled with the harbour and city lights.

Darius continued down the pool deck and into the shower rooms.

He walked into the changing room, put his things on the bench, and the drone hovered in behind him.

“Ok. Lookit… Zero,” he said, talking to it like a pet. “You need to give me some space.” He made a shooing gesture.

It continued to hover in the same spot as if it was staring at him.

“Back up and turn around or something,” he said. The drone didn’t move.

He pushed at it. “Back up, damn you!” The drone drifted backward some distance and stopped.

He watched to make sure it didn’t return, turned, placed his pack on the bench and unzipped it.

Bucky stepped through the entrance to the changing room. He was still wearing his ball uniform. Dirty. Sweat stains under the armpits. His hands were still dirty. His face was dirty. He looked exactly the same since walking off the field.

Darius wondered where he had been all this time.

“I can hear you all the way across the pool deck. Yelling at your little buddy there.”

Darius let his breath out slowly.

“Hey, Bucky,” he said, appearing as calm and nonchalant as he possibly could. He went back into his pack as if barely interrupted. Cool as a cucumber, he thought and started rooting through his pack.

“Look at me, you little rat,” Bucky said with raw anger.

Darius slowly looked up, meeting Bucky’s gaze.

“… Hey, Buck. Just came out for a stroll.”

Bucky sing-songed his voice, like a little kid. “Lucky we got this time out. Ya, you walk Takira… walk Takira…” Bucky stepped in front of Darius. He put his hand on his shirt front.

“Lookit, Buck,” Darius began.

“WALK HIM YOU SAID!” Bucky punched the locker beside Darius’ head with enough force to bend the door. The crash resounded through the locker room.

“Really, Bucky. We could talk with the coach about…”

Bucky lifted Darius and sent him back into the cinder block wall so hard Darius lost his vision for a moment.

“You shut your lying little slave ass.” Darius felt spittle hit him in the face. Bucky’s breath stank of alcohol.

Bucky had him pinned in the corner between the end of the lockers and the wall. Only the toes of his sneakers were touching the floor. Bucky’s forearm was under his chin and across his neck.

“You scammed me,” Bucky said in a harsh whisper. “I should drown your little shit ass right here right now.”

Darius blinked. All he could see were Bucky’s dirty teeth. He tried to raise his head, but Bucky had him pinned solid into the corner.

“Ya. Cameras. You lookin’ for cameras? There are cameras all around us, so I can’t drown you. But you know where they don’t have cameras?” Darius arched his back and pushed against his forearm. He could only get his right hand up. His left arm was pinned in the corner where the wall and the lockers met. Bucky was leaning into him hard as if in a runner’s stance, and the more Darius struggled, the harder Bucky leaned into him.

Bucky was much taller. No matter how hard he tried to push it away, the arm didn’t move.

“You’re strong for a little kid, but I can still drown you if you don’t start paying attention. Now answer the question.” Bucky cuffed him on the side of the head. A blinding shock of pain welled up immediately in his cheek. “Where don’t they have cameras?”

“I don’t know, Buck. Up your ass?” Darius grunted out.

“Ah, you little shit.” Bucky thumped him into the wall again. “I’ll tell you. In the places where there is no tech. Places where poor people live. Places where livestock like you are trained.” Bucky’s face was grim. Evil.

His words sent a thrum of worry coursing through Darius.

“Ah. There you are. You’re with me now. That’s right, goat boy. My old man has a scope on that old bitch lady that took care of you. I know where she is. No cameras. You feel your wise ass starting to—”

“You guys ok?” It was a girl’s voice. A Russian accent.

Bucky was cut off in mid-sentence.

Darius forced his eyes to the entrance of the changing room. A blurry figure came into focus. Bucky turned to look. The pressure on Darius eased.

Nova.

“Get out of here, you little bitch. Just two guys having a little friendly quarrel,” Bucky said.

“Ah... hey, Nova…” Darius heard his own voice come out all slurry. She was wearing athletic gear. Tight black leggings and mocs on her feet and a bulky grey sweater.

“How bout you let go now, Slay,” she said. She didn’t come any closer. Darius didn’t blame her. One of them was trying to tame the lion, while the other one had their head in his jaws.

“Ya. I don’t think so. We’re just messing around. Right, Darius?” Bucky said, punctuating the statement with another thump of Darius into the wall. “Now we think you should leave. We didn’t invite you.” Darius pried harder against Bucky’s wrist.

“Let go,” he said through gritted teeth. He needed air. He pushed his feet against the wall.

Nova was across the room in a flash and had her hands on Bucky’s wrist. She pulled back with all her weight. “Release him.” Darius saw his chance, and also pushed as hard as he could, helping her help him. Together they were able to move the arm back. Cool air flooded into his lungs.

Bucky grinned at him. “Ok, kid. This is the way you want to go?” Suddenly he was free. Bucky dropped him to his feet. Nova stepped away, regaining that safe distance.

“I forgot all you freaks shower together. Must be a test tube thing.” Bucky grinned at them, his hands up. See? Just all a big joke.

“It’s ok. I’ll take care of this another time.” Bucky grabbed the back of Darius’ neck. “Like what we were talking about, eh, buddy? A little family visit instead.” He had his mouth beside Darius’ cheek, talking into his ear but looking at Nova.

“Get outta here, and take the whining little bitch with you.” And he shoved Darius into Nova.

As Darius stumbled into Nova, Bucky stepped forward and drove a fist hard into her midsection. Nova doubled over and sank to the floor on her knees and hands.

“Jesus, Bucky! Are you crazy?” Darius bent down to her side.

Nova didn’t move, still bent over double, her forehead nearly pressing into the tiles as she tried to breathe.

“Booh-yaaa! That’s what you call the ol’ bait and switch. They think they are getting the walk, and then, BAM! You let them have it!” he yelled. He stepped forward, put his cleat on her shoulder, and shoved her over onto her side. She lay curled up in the fetal position on the cold tile floor. “Suck air, jailbait,” he said in a cool tone, “That shut you up, didn’t it? You talk too much.”

Crouched over Nova, Darius saw the punch come too late. The blow caught him on the side of the head, and his vision flashed with sparks.

“I’M GOING TO KICK THE GUTS OUT OF THE BOTH OF YOU!”

Darius’ head spun, and suddenly, that numbness was flooding through his legs again. He wasn’t sure if he could take many more hits like these.

Bucky bent down and whispered in his ear again.

“I’m gonna bruise you both up a little. You and your little girlfriend there. And then my family will go get the old lady.”

“Hey, Bucky. Problem?” This time it was a boy’s voice. Smooth and slow.

Darius couldn’t see, but he could see from the drone’s perspective; there was a shadow in the doorway. Darius lifted his head as far as he could. It wasn’t much. It felt like someone had stacked weights onto the back of his neck. It had never been so difficult to raise his head in his entire life.

“What is it with you freaks?” Bucky said. “Can’t you leave a guy alone to take care of some business?”

“Uh. Ya. I guess.” Darius had the voice now. The Aussie accent belonged to Brock. He had a flat cricket bat slung over one shoulder and a ball clenched in his other hand. “But I think it’s more you. All the yelling. Very disruptive to a fellow’s concentration. I could hear you all the way outside.” He tossed the ball up in the air and caught it. He had some type of black uniform on. Different from the normal one. It lacked any team markings and was covered with sculpted portions of black protective shell.

Nova had made it up to a sitting position. She put a hand on his shoulder. Darius was starting to be able to see for himself through his blurred vision.

“Stay out of this,” Bucky said, stepping towards him with a slight stagger.

“Ya, ok, Buck, whatever you say, but first,” Brock replied cooly. “Check this out.” He stepped forward and thrust the bat toward the big pitcher.

“Bloody cool bat. Look at it… Titanium, mate.”

Bucky did glance down at the bat, then.

“Yep. That’s right, old boy. They’re bringing them back. And this to go with it.” He switched the bat for the ball, the ball close up to Bucky’s eyes. Brock was speaking in casual tones, just like they were having a conversation on the street between friends. The ball, strangely, was matt black, just like the bat, and just like Brock.

Brock flicked the ball back and forth in front of Bucky’s face, too fast for him to follow, causing Bucky to swoon into a drunken stagger.

“Piss off, ya little shit.”

“Betcha don’t know what this is, Buck. Can ya guess? Hard to see, ain’t it? I bet ya can’t see the threads, can ya? Smart Ball. That’s right, buddy. Self returning. Get that? Self-returning, man! Indestructible, so they say, Nanotechnology or something. Self-repairing. Titanium black bat.”

He held up the bat again. “Black ball.” Brock made as if to study the ball himself. “No threads. Batter can’t even see it spinning. Harder to put English on for the pitcher. I betcha that sounds challenging, eh, Big Bucky-roo. I betcha’ can’t even get that drunk abusive head around pitching with a smooth ball.”

Brock dropped the ball, gave it a kick, sending it into a far corner, and stepped closer to Bucky. His voice lowered to a confidential tone.

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“Just in the testing phases, buddy, but once all the weak kids are gone, us real players can get to it, you know? What do you think? Gotta wear the armoured-up uniform, too.” He thumped the chest plate with the bat. “With titanium bats, speeds will be up by one-quarter to one-third. Impacts could be wounding... well, for normal people…”

Darius’ head was clear by now. His vision back. Brock had bought them the time they needed.

Bucky looked confused. He hadn’t expected the casual attitude from Brock. Bucky spit on the locker room floor and regained composure.

“Take that little nosy girl out of here,” he said. “My catcher and I have a conversation to get back to.”

Brock brought the business end of the bat up toward Bucky’s chest again. “Ya, and ah, that’s also a no. I don’t like how you run your ‘conversations.’ Darius, you ok to walk?” Brock asked, not taking his eyes off Bucky.

“I… I think so.” Darius got unsteadily to his feet.

“You step back, Buck.” Brock pushed him backward with a thrust of the bat. “Come on, Nova.” Brock got his arm under hers. She shook him off, and then, placing her hands on her knees, she forced herself up, wincing. She shot Bucky a nasty look and limped out of the change room.

Darius grabbed his pack and edged around Bucky. Brock stood in the entrance with the bat still raised.

A sudden screech of sound, far too loud, blasted through the room. Echoing squeals of feedback resounded throughout the building.

Someone was trying to use the building’s public address system.

“I’m so sorry, that was definitely much too loud… I do apologize for that.” A male voice, mild, spoke uncertainly, amplified through all the overhead speakers. A voice Darius thought sounded familiar.

Another squeal of feedback made them wince again. The voice continued, but this time, it seemed to come from far away, mumbling away from the microphone. “I ask that everyone please proceed immediately to the pool deck.”

Click

“Visitors,” Brock said. “That’s a good thing. Bucky, maybe you stay for a minute and try a cold shower. You guys go ahead.“ He nudged his bat toward the exit. Nova and Darius made their way gingerly down the hall and towards the pool. As they came around the corner to the open water, they were met with the screech of chair legs being slid across the pool deck.

There, they saw a smallish man, a touch on the heavy side, wearing a nice suit. He was moving and stacking chairs around the judge’s tables.

“Ah. There you are,” he called to them and nudged the table back a little.

“Some helpers. Would you all be so kind as to help me organize these tables and chairs for the meeting? The rest of the party will be joining us soon. I think we just need these two long tables, so if you can help me place chairs around them?”

He stopped and smiled. “Sort of a conference-type setup is what I’m shooting for, really.”

Darius walked towards him slowly, and he recognized him. Mr. Mercury, the lawyer from the hallway, from the hospital yesterday. He gingerly felt the lumps in his hairline and checked his fingertips. No blood, but it sure felt like he was bleeding. He glanced over his shoulder. Brock was coming behind them, but Bucky hadn’t left the changing room yet.

He carefully felt the incision on his cheek. It was swollen but also not bleeding.

Brock laid his equipment down on the deck and grabbed the opposite end of the table that Mr. Mercury was trying to move.

“Mr. Mercury?”

“Yes. And good to see you again, Darius. Thank you all for coming to help. Everyone needs to be sitting, of course. There will be four in the Higotachi party. The four of us, and four representing the other side.”

“If you would introduce me to your friends...?” He extended his hand.

“Ah, Nova and Brock. Meet Mr. Mercury. He, ah, does law…”

“Sort of. Arbitration really. Moved over from communications, where I used to specialize. Now upstairs employs me more as a legal guidepost.” He grinned at them and then was disappointed when they didn’t get his joke. He continued his explanation. “I’m more of a comptroller advising on possible outcomes. I specialize in liabilities and contract stipulations. Very boring stuff. But they promised me the new position would still allow travel, and I’ve always liked that,” he said as he shook hands. “Really, I just guide the interested or suddenly involved parties through due process situations. Here to help is my motto,” he said, clapping his hands together with a smile.

The doors at the far end of the pool slid open. The janitor and the twin girls walked in.

“What you want?” one of the girls asked. The slightly nicer one, whistle girl.

“Get out now. Closed,” the other one said, definitely lip-gloss mirror girl.

Mr. Mercury spoke to them in Japanese.

“No meet scheduled. Swim meets over,” whistle girl replied, shaking her head.

“Our shift over. Closed. How you get in?” mirror girl said and then switched to Japanese.

“No. You misunderstand. A meeting, not a swim meet. And about your question, I let myself in. You have no reason to blame anyone here but me. And I’m sorry but no, you can’t go home. I know. Totally unscheduled. Often these types of things are. They just sort of ‘come together.’” He held up his hands to frame the scene.

He addressed everyone, “I assure you this will only take the few minutes allocated. If I can just have everyone’s cooperation, we will all be on our separate paths quite soon, I promise.”

The girls and the janitor looked unimpressed.

Mr. Mercury continued, “I’ll inform you that these proceedings that are about to begin are fully binding and legal.” He nodded his head in emphasis. Then it seemed to Darius he repeated the same thing in Japanese. The big old janitor replied in a gruff tone.

“Come, come, there, Mr. Kazimora, and help us arrange the tables. I assure you this won’t take long. You three…” He gestured to Darius and Nova, and Brock. “Let’s finish up. We need two of these long tables together here with chairs on either side.”

The janitor began lumbering over to join them. “That’s it. Thank you.”

“No meet.” The twin girls stood motionless at the edge of the pool deck.

“Ladies, really, this will go much better if you cooperate. Possibly, there are some refreshments you could find?” His question was met with a dead stare. “How about fountain water? Disposable cups, maybe? Please find them, and let’s fill them, ok? I know this is just a pool deck and not an official conference room, but we can make a proper attempt at hospitality.” He then added some words in Japanese.

The girls “humphed” in unison and turned away.

“I will bring jug from staff room.”

Mr. Mercury watched them go for a few moments. “This isn’t so bad, actually. I once held arbitration proceedings in an active war zone in a snowy mountain pass. You wouldn’t believe some of the locations where these things come off half the time.”

“Are you recruiting?” Brock asked.

The small man smiled kindly.

“This most certainly is a recruitment. I’m just here to lay the legal grounds. Help set boundaries, or the other side will just want to take everything and then some. You know how negotiations can be. Mr. Higotachi and his team have shown interest in the three of you. I just register and monitor the transition and make sure the parameters are followed. So please, the quicker we get things set up, the quicker we can all get out of here. Things are scheduled to kick off quite soon.” He glanced at his watch that glinted with thick gold and silver.

Darius, Brock, and Nova set to putting the long tables together, long sides touching, and then finished arranging the chairs around them. By the time they were done, the twins had returned with a jug and cups.

Through the drone feed, Darius watched as Bucky got to his feet and exited the change room. The drone followed him down the hallway and out onto the edge of the pool deck.

He stopped, feet wide, hands on hips and took in what was going on.

“Hey. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but if this is some type of covert draft you are setting up, everyone here is under contract. They can’t be recruited. You can’t draft them. My family owns them. Well…” He pointed at Nova. “All except for that skinny squirt there,” Bucky said.

The lawyer stopped what he was doing, which was filling paper cups from a jug of water that the twins had provided.

“Let’s not be impolite. We could all take the easy route and spew rudeness and scatter garbage about, now, couldn’t we? But we choose to be better than that. ‘Better us, better others, better place’, I always say. Now to respectfully answer your inquiry, this negotiation is all-encompassing. It trumps any existing contracts. You, young man, are also involved, whether you like it or not. An individual like you, with your certain skill set, should be under consideration by the other side.”

“No. This doesn’t involve me. This is bullshit. I’m leaving.”

“I’m sorry to say it does involve you. And you’re not leaving. You’re involved, just like everyone else. And no one has the freedom to depart right now, I’m afraid. I’ve already explained to you that you may be recruited by downstairs. As long as all elements are under consideration everyone stays for the negotiations until they are finalised.”

“I won’t sign any contract.”

“You won't need to.” Mercury gestured towards Darius. “He had a choice yesterday. Upstairs had already scouted him. That automatically puts you in contention to be considered by the other side. It’s all in the balance of things.”

“I don’t agree to that. They won’t have my consent.”

“But you have already given it!” Mercury replied incredulously. “You should have thought of that and changed your behaviour long before now, young man.”

The doors at the pool entrance slid open. Two people were led by an elderly Asian man with flowing white hair and wearing what looked like to Darius a thick white bathrobe from an expensive hotel. Badrik was towering over him, as tall as a lamp post and wearing his crisp dark suit and the little doctor, Major Joy, in her military uniform, was beside him.

Mr. Mercury pirouetted away from Bucky, and placing the water pitcher on the table, he clasped his hands together and bowed.

“Domo Arigato, Ebisu,” he said.

“Domo Arigato, Mercury” the old man replied, bowing. “They call me Hiruko Higotachi here.”

“Of course. I’ve made sure it’s on all the documentation. I am very sorry that there are only four of you left. My deepest condolences,” the lawyer said.

“Their essence is part of us now. Like the moon, luck also waxes and wanes. We carry them with us,” the old man replied. He led his small group forward through the doors towards the lawyer. “It is good that you are still well.”

“Thank you.” Mr. Mercury gestured to the table. “Please, I ask that everyone take a seat so we may begin.”

Darius didn’t understand what was going on. He looked to the young doctor, and then to Badrik. He tried to force a smile through the pain in his face and hesitatingly pulled out a chair and sat down. It felt really good to sit. After helping to set up the tables and chairs, he was right done in. The bones of his cheek ached, and it was difficult to concentrate. The beating that Bucky had given him was tolling through him like a rung bell. He did notice Badrik placing something on the empty chair beside him. Nova and Brock sat down alongside Darius, and that, at least, made him feel a little better. He thought he may have found two friends tonight.

Doctor Joy walked directly to Darius. He smiled at seeing her again.

“You have been assaulted. How do you feel?” she asked. She took the same small scanner out of her pocket that Darius remembered from the hospital and passed its ice-blue light over his cheek.

“I’m ok. It just hurts a little. Well, more than a little, I guess. Thank you.”

“I’m just going to scan and help with the pain. You won’t feel a thing.”

Dr. Joy glanced to where Bucky stood. He was watching them, arms crossed, as if to say, “Go ahead, prove it.”

The pain in his face turned cool and subsided.

The old man handed a scroll of paper to Mr. Mercury, who sat, unfurled it, and began reading.

“I have my own agent. He should be here,” Bucky said, still standing back away from where the rest of them sat at the table.

“I’m very sorry to inform you he won’t be making it,” Mr. Mercury replied without looking up. “As official arbatrator I’m fairly representing all parties in this negotiation. Please, sit down young man.” He finished reading, reached below the table, brought up a briefcase, and slid the scroll inside. The clasps locked with a resounding click.

“What we have here is a proposal from Mr. Higotachi. Now negotiations cannot begin until the officially classified ‘event of devastation.’” He glanced at his wristwatch again. “That is about to begin.”

Doctor Joy continued scanning his incision. Darius held still.

The twins shifted forward, dropped their elbows on the table, and slouched to pull out matching tablets.

“We not stay long.”

“Ya, we got, like, stuff. You know?” whistle girl added.

The big cleaner sat like an immovable Buddha, sweat stains on his work shirt, eyelids drooping. He spoke in Japanese.

The twin girls burst into cruel laughter.

Mercury rapped on the tabletop and replied in Japanese.

The girls laughed even louder.

Mercury continued. “Please, ladies! What is so funny? I simply said he did not need to go home and eat noodles.”

The twins spoke in Japanese nearly in unison and burst into laughter.

“He saying you fat. He look at you. Said eating noodles. He’s making fun of you.” They laughed in a forced, cruel way.

“Well, I assure you, this may be a new saying, but that is what they say when the pot calls the kettle black. I assure you…”

Dr. Joy clicked her scanner shut. “Never mind them, Mr. Mercury,” the doctor said. “Mr. Kazimora had no intention of indicating you are overweight. He sincerely meant that he is tired and wants to go home and eat noodles. The girls are only trying to be disruptive by implying that he insulted you. They are only being cruel and manipulative. They find it funny.”

“Is this the way things are now? How can there be progress when so many of the young create disharmony? I thought that was only the prerogative of chaos. No wonder this location has aligned so well for both sides.”

“No. I’m sorry to say it is much the way things are now. Attempts at misinformation. Cruelty is a game.” She said quietly to Darius, “It looks like no permanent damage has been done. You should be ok.” She gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and then made her way around to her chair and sat.

The very old man looks like a white monk straight out of an old-fashioned comic book, Darius thought. A small pouch on a leather sling was draped over one shoulder of the robe.

“Well, I can see the other side now has a substantial hiring pool to draw on,” Mercury continued. “You know you step away for a century and this is how things deteriorate. There will be absolutely no deceptions during my arbitration, ladies. Is that understood?” The twins started their forced laughing again. With a gesture from Mercury, their tablets flicked off the table and landed in the pool with individual splooshes.

Both girls said something nasty sounding in Japanese.

“This is stupid. I’m leaving,” Bucky announced, moving to the exit.

“I’m sorry. You won’t be able to as the prelims have already started. And ladies, that counts for you too.”

Ignoring Mercury, Bucky made his way to the exit doors. They didn’t open. He gave them a rattling shake.

“Open the doors!” Bucky shook them again.

The twins shot to their feet and watched their tablets drift to the pool bottom. “How did you do that?” the girls asked.

“They are simply forms of communication that can be manipulated, just as the sensor on the door is a form of communication. Now that I have your attention, you need to agree to no more deceptions during my proceedings. I will not tolerate lying. Any lies during official arbitration taint all of the proceedings. If you lie, you are subject to disqualification. Even those representing downstairs will not outright lie during arbitration or contract negotiations. They may deceive, will most likely deceive, but they won’t lie. So, I warn you now, ladies, there will be no more lying.”

“I agree to nothing!” mirror girl said.

“Ya. We do what we want, we tell you to sh—” At a gesture from Mercury, the whistle lanyard on the girl’s neck wound itself tight, cutting off her voice. Her hands clutched at the lanyard. She tried to pry her fingers underneath and loosen it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Not during legal arbitration, you don’t. You will comply with the regulations. There will be no outright deceptions. Agreed?”

Whistle girl continued to fight against the binding around her neck.

“You garbage! Let her go. You are crap shit piec—” Mirror girl’s sound stopped. Her mouth was moving, she was still talking, but somehow the lawyer had turned on her mute button. She gestured and banged on the table, but her voice didn’t work. The other sister was starting to have a colour change in her face.

“I’m very sorry that I have to do this but neither of you have been paying attention. Now both of you, just agree to be polite, find your manners, sit down like nice girls, and no more lying. Can I get a head nod? Either of you nod. Can either of you please nod in agreement? It will be something you will be held to.”

Both girls nodded at the lawyer. The rope of the whistle slackened, and the standing sister’s moving lips made sounds again.

“Ok! Ok!” Her laryngitis was gone, and she could be heard normally again.

“Very good.”

“How can you do that?” Brock asked.

“Like you, young man, we all have our different abilities. Just like Mr. Badrik here.” Mercury turned to address the tall man directly. “We have been around performing our various tasks, busy in the thick of things for some time now. And I must say, Badrik, it is good to see you looking so young and vibrant.”

Bucky thumped the exit doors and shook them even harder. “Excuse me a moment,” Mercury said, leaning to peer around Badrik towards the entrance.

“I told you no one leaves.” And then back to Badrik, he continued, “What is your secret? Those that dwelt on the silk road always do well, they have plenty of support. Luck has always been a strong influence in that region. Always good to see their representatives so healthy. But you, Badrik. You look the most fit of all of us, except for young Joy here.”

“I don’t understand. I am young,” the doctor said. “And Badrik is not much older than me.”

“We are all quite ancient, my dear,” Mercury said to her.

Doctor Joy looked at him quizzically.

“She has recently been sent for retraining,” Badrik said. “We needed someone to understand all this new technology. In doing so, she had to put aside much of her earlier understanding by stepping into the Lost Realms, otherwise there would have been conflicts and possibly an inability to learn. She has come back to the fold and has been studying science. We expect her to fully recover her memory at some point. As for myself,” Badrik continued, “thank you. Yes, I have aged very well. No secret, really. It is the region of the creole and pirates where my power comes from. The faith in voodoo keeps me young. Just the same as the followers of luck in the Far East. Without my clients, well…” His voice drifted.

“But you are too humble. It is a two-way street. They believe so strongly because, as I understand, you provide an excellent service. I do still get some support myself, but it doesn’t seem to matter what I do. As I like to say, ‘no one considers the ferryman until they are on the boat’. Would you believe most of my current support comes from astrology, of all places? Who would have guessed? Horoscopes. And I have the Gutenbergs to thank for that,” Mercury said.

“It was the crucible of young Johannes Gutenberg’s life that finally had the printing press in Europe. His father’s actions disallowed Johannes from joining the Master’s Guild. His father left his wife and married his love, who was a commoner and Johannes’ mother. If this strife hadn’t happened, Johannes Gutenberg would have been a member of the Masters Guild, and the printing press would never have been invented.”

“A true illustration,” Badrik said, “that in creating harmony, destructive events can be just as important as beneficial ones.”

“Yes, agreed. But I digress. Now, if you can believe this, what supports me is horoscopes in newspapers. I still exercise, but, to be honest, I am aging. There seems to be nothing I can do to keep this midsection down.” Mercury patted his stomach. He turned to Nova. “I used to be a runner, you know, like yourself. But technology came to communication as it comes to all things,” he continued. “You drop out of things for a while, and good luck understanding all of it when you come back. Take this ‘public address’ system here. My first time tonight on one of these.” He leaned towards Nova and spoke in a stage whisper. “You know we used to physically run the messages back and forth? And the music now. My word.” Snapping his fingers, he sat back up and addressed the room. “Musical orchestrations! They fill a structure larger than the Parthenon with sound from hundreds of instruments preserved in a space smaller than a grain of sand. Simply incredible.”

He turned to the white monk. “I understand this is similar to what your machine intelligence has devised but on a much more efficient capacity?”

“My apologies.” He bowed his head. “I don’t really understand what it is attempting. We are only offering help and guidance in our area of influence. It has been judged a good entity that can attain future balance and harmony with preserved memories. Memories preserved, in the same way, I could only imagine, as the sound of music is preserved, as you say. But far more advanced as we have confirmed it is of a utopian alignment existing about eight hundred years from now. The young one here…” and the master gestured to Darius with a wrinkled hand.

Me? What do I have to do with any of this? Darius wondered.

“…will know much. Badrik tells me that he should be able to manipulate anything.”

“What?” He couldn’t stop himself from saying it. Me. He really means me. The unexpectedness of it had caught him off guard. I’m supposed to what?

“Well, in your document—”

“Yes, that was my work, Mr. Mercury,” Doctor Joy said. “I’ve been studying everything that I have been given with regards to the new technology. Yes, like you say, simply put, it would be like recording a symphony, but also the memories of the musicians and, well, their essence. Call it their intelligence, their spirit, their soul. The best way for me to describe it is the recently discovered crystalline element on comet seven seven two allows for recording an entire person, not just their voice.”

Element 772. That’s the same thing they put into my face, Darius thought, touching his cheek.

“Excellent. Simply another new form of communication. All so very interesting, all this new ‘science’ stuff. Thank you for the explanation, Doctor.” Mercury glanced at his watch again. “So, while we’re waiting, if no one objects, I have recently come across this strophic composition. Simply beautiful music. Absolutely incredible. It is called ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’. Have any of you heard it?” he asked with pure glee as he glanced around the table.

“Uh…” Nova began to reply.

“Don’t tell me you’ve heard it? I don’t know how that could be. It will spoil my surprise if you have. It really is quite recent, I assure you. A very new composition.”

“Well…” Brock began.

The lawyer held up a finger. “Just a moment. Let me see if I can get this…”

And then, softly, the Christmas song “Silent Night” began to play from the PA. It was more than the version of some carollers singing. It was an entire symphony playing a classical orchestral version. Darius had to admit it was the most beautiful version of “Silent Night” he had ever heard.

Bucky had stopped shaking the doors and looked up at the speakers.

The lawyer sat back, his eyes closed, and pantomimed leading an orchestra with a baton. “This is marvellous, isn’t it?

If the feeling of peace and contentedness could be made into a sound, this was it, Darius thought. A waterfall of sound poured from the overhead speakers, a thousand soft classical strings flooding the Rec Center, rich and warm.

Mercury gestured up towards the ceiling, and the volume lowered.

“Badrik, that is Juro beside you, is it not?”

“Yes.”

“Juro. You really think a turtle is appropriate?” Mercury asked the empty chair beside Badrik.

Darius watched Mercury speak to the empty chair beside Badrik.

“He wanted to be properly prepared,” Badrik said. “We were told there was going to be a pool of water. And a harbour nearby. He has been quite worried about it ever since. He thought a turtle would be most appropriate. He has been a turtle for days now.”

“Juro. Please. Something more conversational, perhaps?” Mercury said to the chair.

A black chicken stuck its head up from the chair, startling Darius.

“Braaaak?”

“Well, at least I can look at you, so to answer your question, yes.”

Darius glanced over to Brock.

“Are we being punked or something?” Brock asked.

“There is a chicken. No chicken before. Now chicken,” Nova said. “One girl gets choked by whistle. Other girl pretend she can’t speak.”

“Piss off, bitch. You try it if you think it pretend.”

“Humph. I guess,” Nova said. “You can’t lie.” And she smiled.

Bucky strode back over to where they were all sitting.

“This is all bullshit,” he said. “Open those doors now or I’m going to smash the glass right out of them,” and he picked up the closest chair.

Mr. Mercury held up his hand, and the music stopped. He glanced at his watch.

“Really just so naturally disruptive. I think they’ll draft you in the first round, young man. Anyway, I just think that music is absolutely beautiful. Now, Mr. Slay, as I have repeatedly stated, if you don’t sit, I cannot offer you the full protection of these proceedings.”

“I’m leaving,” Bucky replied. “And nothing is going to stop me.”

Mercury lifted his arm and, glancing at his watch, shot his hand towards the glass wall. “That will stop you.”

An intense pulse of white light strobed through the night sky, an exploding star filled the horizon.

The midnight city harbour turned into day. They shielded their eyes as the room was flooded with a brilliance that quickly shrunk back to a point of distant white.

“What was that?”

The air around the far-off light began to smoke, and then out of the smoke rushed a shockwave that shattered buildings and hurled tall trees like they were leaves in a strong gale. The destruction rushed closer to them, flinging cars, and snapping light poles and killing distant lights. The room they all sat in remained silent. They could hear nothing but the gurgle of the pool water and the flap flap flap of the water overflow duct in the pool wall.

Bucky put down the chair, ever so gently, and he watched the shockwave, mesmerized.

The silence in the room made the image through the window seem unreal.

“It’s not real,” someone said.

“Oh, that’s real,” Mercury replied. “It’s simply that the shockwave is travelling faster than the speed of sound. How quickly, to be exact? Well, I’d have to look that up for you. Like I said, all this science stuff is fairly new to me. We had magic back in my day that could do the same thing, but the speed of the shockwaves was dependent directly upon the magic user, not scientific factors such as atmospheric density and such. I do know that the smoke you see is the result of heat energy vaporizing moisture in the atmosphere.”

A pulse of light flickered towards them like a Tesla arc. It blotted out the skyscrapers. The tall buildings disappeared.

“What is it?” Nova asked the question again.

“Dystopia. Unbalance. But without it, we would not be allowed to proceed in re-attaining balance. I’m just so glad these negotiations are finally getting underway.”