I sat up groggily, shielding my eyes from the sunlight streaming through the windows, as I reached for the clock next to my bed. Ten-thirty.

  I didn’t remember making my way back to bed after our excursion, but I apparently managed it; I even got a couple more hours of sleep. Normally I didn’t have any problem getting up, but the last few days had really done a number on me. I was still tired, and everything hurt, but I still dragged myself out of bed.

  Grabbing my housecoat and throwing it around my shoulders, I shambled down the hallway, to the front room. Cleo and Leah, our two adult cats, were busy fighting over the top of the tallest cat tree. Hissing and swatting at each other while Lala ran circles around the base meowing loudly. She probably thought it was a game.

  Skyler was sitting on the sofa, dressed in a casual blouse and slacks, reading from a tablet she had sitting on her crossed legs. As soon as she saw me, she shot me a dazzling smile. “Good morning, love, you’re looking better.”

  “Then I must have looked like death earlier,” I mumbled, “because I feel terrible.”

  “I shouldn’t have let you come to the courthouse this morning. I knew you were tired, but it wasn’t until we got to the wharf that I realized how tired. You were practically dead on your feet.”

  “The courthouse,” I groaned. “I was going to call her and give her an update, but I fell asleep before I could.”

  “Don’t worry. I gave her a call after putting you to bed and updated her on the situation. She was livid, but I managed to calm her down and convinced her to go home,” Skyler explained as she pushed herself to her feet and strode towards the kitchen.

  “You managed to calm my mother down? How? We just barely managed to keep her from barging right into the security office earlier.”

  “I told her the truth—that you were in no shape to talk to her. She was so worried about you that it distracted her from your father.”

  “You told her that? I’m surprised she didn’t barge in here and demand to see me,” I snorted.

  Skyler paused, then glanced back at me, smirking.

  “She didn’t…”

  “She did! You were so out of it that you slept through all the commotion. At least I managed to convince her that you were just exhausted and didn’t need a doctor. We should probably pop by her place later and prove that you’re still alive.”

  “I’m fine with that, as long as she’s not obsessing over the breakout. My father always seems to draw out the worst in her, even when he’s locked behind bars. The longer she’s distracted, the better,” I muttered.

  “True,” Skyler replied lightly.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Aunt Cho was in the kitchen, standing over a couple bubbling pots. His face lit up as soon as she saw me. “Miss Reina, it's so good to see you up and about. Everyone here has been so worried about the two of you running around all day and only returning long enough to sleep. I was thrilled when Miss Skyler told me you’d be sticking around for the entire day. Are you hungry? Lunch will be ready in an hour or two, but I can heat up some of the soup I made for breakfast if you want it.”

  My hand shot to my stomach as it rumbled loud enough to be heard over the ambient noise.

  “I’ll get you a bowl,” Aunt Cho smiled. “You just sit at the table, and I’ll be there in a minute.”

  I slipped away from the counter, blushing in embarrassment. Our dining room was modest, at least compared to my mother’s or some of our friend’s. A small six-person table made of real mahogany with a set of matching chairs upholstered with white fabric. They looked simple but cost us a small fortune and took over six months to produce. Only artisanal workshops worked with real wood these days.

  The table was actually a bit of an anomaly in our apartment. Skyler and I didn’t care that much about chasing trends or the high-end brand names. As long as we liked the style of something and it was comfortable, we’d buy it. Most of our furniture came from mid-level furniture brands. The table was the only luxury piece, and only because the real wood was just too nice for us to pass up.

  Collapsing into my regular chair, I propped up my head with one hand while waiting for Skyler to take her own seat.

  “Are you okay? I knew you were tired that much was obvious, but you also seem to be limping a little this morning,” Skyler asked after a moment. “You’re not injured, are you?”

  “No, the auto injector Artymis gave me worked wonders. The antithesis only caught me once or twice, and all my wounds closed within seconds. I think I just overexerted myself yesterday. It’s been a long time since we last went swimming, and all my muscles are sore this morning.”

  {Arty: That’s partially due to the genetic boosters. Although they’re designed to perform changes slowly over several days, they’re taking advantage of the muscular hypertrophy to better integrate with your muscles. The extra couple hours of sleep probably helped jumpstart the process too.}

  “I hope I don’t have to put up with this the entire week. It’ll make our work much more difficult,” I grumbled.

  {Arty: It should only be for today.}

  “Good.”

  While I was talking to my AI, Aunt Cho carefully set a large bowl of soup in front of me. It looked amazing with large chunks of chicken and fresh vegetables in a thick broth.

  “Thank you,” I told her politely before grabbing my spoon. As much as I wanted to dig right in, I noticed that Skyler didn’t have anything. “You’re not going to eat?”

  “I had breakfast at a reasonable time,” she replied with a small smile. “I’ll wait for lunch, you go ahead.”

  Nodding, I carefully scooped a large chunk of chicken into my mouth. It was heavenly.

  “Since we’re taking the day off, and that’s non-negotiable by the way, I was thinking we should go out today,” Skyler announced. “I promised your mom we’d stop by for dinner, but that still leaves us a couple hours. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

  “Shouldn’t most of the city be closed down right now? There was an incursion a couple days ago, and there's a massive swarm of antithesis outside the city. I’d think most people would want to stay off the streets,” I said between spoonfuls of soup.

  “A couple, sure, but from what I understand most people don’t think the antithesis have a prayer of breaching the walls. After everything we’ve seen the last couple days, I’m not sure that’s true, but it means there are lots of places we can go for a quick date.”

  I nodded slowly and went through the options in my head. “No dates to Nimbleland. I think I’m going to have nightmares about that for years.”

  Skyler grimaced. “Agreed. How about the aqua gardens? They added holoprojectors everywhere, so they have schools of holographic fish swimming through the complex. Apparently it’s just like swimming in the ocean before the antithesis arrived and devoured everything.”

  “Really? That’d be something to see. I’ve heard stories of fish as far as the eye can see.”

  “Apparently they even interact with the coral exhibits, darting in and out of shelter,” Skyler reported excitedly.

  “Fine, you’ve convinced me,” I told her, pushing my now empty dish away and smiling. “We can head over right after lunch. Aunt Cho is already cooking, and it would be impolite to skip out on that, and I need a little bit of time to get cleaned up and changed.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Skyler chirped before stealing my bowl. “I can handle this, you go get cleaned up!”

  I shook my head as she darted off, full of energy. Sometimes I had to remind myself that she was a lawyer. She acted so differently while working that it was like seeing a different person.

  With a quick shake of the head, I stood up and headed back towards the bedroom. If we were going on a date, I wanted to take a little extra time to look my best.

  Skyler deserved that.

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