/everywhere’s here/

0600 and Arkady wakes up, fresh, an hour earlier than yesterday. He’s ready.

He taps to unlock his phone, stares at the little graphic that caused him so much pain yesterday, taps it to go in.

the affection multiplier app - developed by

this is a gift. i promise.

don’t worry about who put this here or why they did so. do not tell anyone about this gift. just click accept.

accept

He thinks about it a bit. He’s well and truly intrigued now. He clicks the button.

the affection multiplier app quantifies your relationship with other people on a scale from -200 to 200. the app enhances relationship point gains (not losses!) to allow one to easily build relationships.

in addition to this effect, the affection multiplier app rewards the user for hitting milestones (not shown until completed) and completing quests (rarer, but may pop up from time to time). these rewards come in the form of an in-game currency, which can be used to buy facets, enhancements to either you or another person with whom you have a friendly relation (score at least 50).

there is more to this, but that will all come later.

He finishes reading. Immediately, the screen changes, as if it knew that he’d finished. In its place were two rows of information.

arkady

n/a

curious

facets unavailable, earn some monetary units first!

the girl

-10

curious, afraid

facets unavailable, relationship score is not >50!

He looks to the bottom of the screen.

monetary units: 0

He thinks a bit. He closes the app. He can’t do anything now anyways.

Not yet breakfast time. His music came in last night. He can’t download music on his phone because the guards have to keep up the appearance of censorship, but nothing he’s ever asked for has been withheld or modified. No censorship, just the illusion of it.

He turns on Peter Davies’ Eight Songs For A Mad King (1).

He listens. When it’s done, he presses repeat, listens to it again. Listens to it a third time. He wants to listen to it a fourth time, but it’s 0656 and he has to go to breakfast, no, wants to go to breakfast because the girl will be there. She will be there. He can talk to her, set things right, get rid of the giant negative five, no, now the app says it’s a negative ten, hovering over her head.

He walks purposefully.

She’s there earlier than he is, eating. She doesn’t see him approaching, doesn’t feel his presence until he’s right behind her, right behind that ugly red negative ten, an angry scar on a beautiful body.

Beautiful? No. That’s strictly objective. She’s more beautiful than this brutal concrete chamber, a light in a dark ocean.

Shit I’m getting poetic. I swear I don’t find her… more attractive… than anyone else would. I swear…

She turns around, face framed by hair, neither dark nor light, just enough of both that he can’t decide. Her eyes are a murky blue, like he envisions the ocean to be from what he’s read.

Shit I’m staring say something say something say something

“... hi… sorry for… yesterday…”

Shit shit shit come on be articulate you’re smart aren’t you SHOW IT YOU DAMN FOOL

A slight upturn in the corners of her mouth. She’s smiling a bit. You look at the number. It’s now a 0, gray, neutral, the angry red scar floating over her head gone.

SAY SOMETHING

“... what’s your name?”

“... what’s your name?” the boy says

Somehow, even after the way he spoke to her yesterday, harsh, brutal, she’s smiling. Listening to him. She didn’t know why. It had been a while since she’d seen another human.

Maybe that’s why. I’m for companionship. Doesn’t paint a good picture of what I’ve become.

“Electra.”

“Electra.”

It’s a confident voice, he thinks. The girl, no, Electra, has a nice voice.

“And you?”

“Arkady.”

They are silent for a moment, Arkady standing, towering over Electra. Both are grown, it’s obvious, but inside, both are just children, a boy and a girl, experiencing what they would have, should have, much earlier. Something stirs inside Arkady, but he doesn’t say anything. He just sits down silently next to her.

They both eat in silence.

When Arkady stands up, there isn’t red or gray floating above Electra’s head. It’s a soft green, a 20, shining a soft light onto her face, making it even more radiant than it already is.

(1) This is a great piece, not for everyone, but I recommend a listen. This is a good recording.