Glimmer meets Two-Trick.

She feels strange inside the longue. There are a few other passengers there already, drinking coffee and reading classic literature, paperback books with titles she didn’t know. A Lightning Thief in one hand, a “Time for Love and a Time to Die” in another. The silence of their rapid travel makes her think the train is still static on the tracks in Neon Shroud. And more than anything else, she’s trapped in the thought of being stuck still, no closer to David than she was while she was in lockdown.

Two-Trick interrupts her self-loathing, bringing a cup of coffee,e however, which alarms Glimmer instantly. She takes it, sniffs it, then burns her tongue at the first attempt to drink it.

Two-Trick watches without expression, just a vague outline of curiosity. “So, you made up your mind to visit your boyfriend?”

“I did,” Glimmer feels her tongue’s texture get strange in her mouth. “Did I inconvenience you?”

Two-Trick glances at herself and then shakes her head. “I’m paid to make sure you don’t do anything stupid, or get **** by someone on a power trip, apparently.”

Glimmer shakes her head. “Thanks for that, but I could have handled it.”

“Not without causing a sign. Imagine blowing your vacation because you get into a scratch fight over a guy who wanted his way with you.”

“Are you saying it would have been easier to give myself to him?”

Two-Trick looks up, annoyed. “I’m saying you’re stupid just doing this without any thought.”

“I know where David is.”

“OK, where is he?”

“Porttown.”

“Where in Porttown?”

And just like that, Glimmer can’t answer honestly. Two-Trick shakes her head, letting out a weak scoff before regarding the passing world outside. A frozen body of water cascades over miles of nothing, reflecting sunlight from the surface. “This guy better be worth it, because you’re wasting a lot of good time on nothing.”

“I have to try,” she says.

Two-Trick regards Glimmer now, with an unreadable expression that puts Glimmer under a spotlight of inspection. “What?”

“You’re a strange girl. I don’t know what to make of you.”

Glimmer shrinks. “I… I just want to feel loved again.”

Two-Trick nods slowly and looks away, back to the world outside as the train rips above the frozen body. “I am watching over you, by the way. Sevens wanted me to make sure you’re not running away. He suspected David was your real reasoning, but decided to play it safe. I didn’t expect you to leave the moment the lockdown lifted, though.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Glimmer meets Two-Tricks' eyes and smiles slightly. “How’d you end up like this?”

She lifts an eyebrow, not using words to answer.

“A contractor,” Glimmer whispers to clarify her question.

“Daddy taught me to shoot young, and mom said I couldn’t sing,” is all she said, no humor in her voice, and no change in expression. “Seemed like God was telling me where to go.”

“You’re… gorgeous,” Glimmer admitted, with a hint of envy. From what she could see, Two-Trick didn’t look like she’d gone through much trouble to get her looks at all.

Two-Trick smirked slightly, her eyes drifting up to meet hers. “You sound like a guy who tried to play his cards against me. You fuck guys too, Glimmer?”

Glimmer had extensive experience with women, though her preferences were predominantly men. “Are you such a cunt that you can’t have a normal conversation? Who am I, nothing more than a client to you?”

A genuine look of sympathy crosses her face just a heartbeat before it hardens into another blank slate to mask her face. “I understand your situation more than you might think.”

“How?”

“I don’t need to explain myself,” she answers, looking up at the chandelier above them, which remains basically static. “I can’t stand whores, though. You bring the worst out of men, and seduce them into being unfaithful.”

“They made the choice to visit me. I never asked them to be.”

“Amazing. Couldn’t have chosen something better yourself? Said no to whoring and done something as simple as flipping burgers and frying fries? Better to live in the slums and be innocent than live in luxury but sucking every fat cat’s cock.”

“And you’re a killer, which I think is a worse sin than being open.”

“It’s an incredibly level playing field where both genders fight for the contract and search for the best review.”

Glimmer shakes her head, irritation spiking, but before she can tell her 2 cents, Two-Trick holds up a finger. “If you had met this David guy at a park or through a regular retail experience, you wouldn’t have met me, or Sevens, or Alexander. And if David were as kind as you claim he is, he would have never set foot in Pink Heat. And if this works out, he’s dating a girl who has had countless bones inside her body. And you’re fucking retarded if you think that doesn’t bother him.”

The spite and anger are subdued instantly. Two-Trick lowers her facade, and a natural look of pity takes over. “You are pathetic, and I do feel bad for you. But that doesn’t change the job I have to watch over you to make sure your creepy fucking bunkmate doesn’t **** you, or David tries to sell you.”

“Thanks,” Glimmer isn’t at the verge of tears or shouting or anything now. Just tired. Defeated even. She just wants some kind of normality, but now it seems that it was blown years ago.

“Sorry, it has to be this way, kid.” Two-Trick stands up and pats her shoulder. “I’m here, whether you like it or not. I’m not your friend, I’m not your therapist.”

Silence. A slight shift. A rumble. The pages shift from the others in the room. Then a distant thought enters her mind that has nothing to do with anything. When was the last time she read a book from cover to cover?