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Please don’t fire me, please don’t fire me, please don’t fire me.
But instead of her boss’ snooty drawl, Leah’s entire apartment was filled with a deep, raspy voice that played pretend at sounding human.
"Greetings, Earthling."
Leah had frowned.Earthling?
She got occasional holo-spam, but it usually involved dick pills and shady charities.
"Congratulations. You have been Selected as the perfect match for the esteemed Quillon, Taryn Ze’Lis, son of—"
Leah turned the message off as she rushed out the door. She had no time for prank holos.
Ever since the Quillons had made contact with Earth, it’s all everyone could talk about. The super mysterious aliens who promised to help humans against the Zavorians. They kept sending technology Earth’s way, but they hadn’t intervened directly.
Leah had been excited at first. With the Zavorians off Earth’s back, maybe life would get back to normal. The Zavorians asked for protection fees every couple of months, and humans had been forced to produce more and more.
It was tough.
It was rough.
It kept getting worse while everyone walked around in a sleep-deprived daze.
To be completely honest, Leah was starting to wonder if the Quillons would ever help Earth. This whole intervention felt like empty promises. She’d had enough of those.
Leah jogged to the transportation pod station built in the middle of the main street. Wide glass tubes sprung out of the cracked pavement and twisted high into the sky, in all directions, carrying each person to a preset location. It was faster, but the stations were few and far between. You had to walk. A lot.
Leah swiped her card at the start of the station chute. But the sliding door remained firmly closed.
She frowned and swiped it again.
“Hurry up,” a disgruntled voice said from down the line. “It’s getting dark and I start work in five hours.”
“Sorry, sorry,” she muttered and swiped the card again.
The screen turned blood red.
”Insufficient funds,” a metallic voice oozed out from the speakers.
“Damn it.” Leah rushed out of the line, stuffing her card back inside her pocket.
Her salary would be deposited three days from now.Ifshe’d get paid on time. Chanelle had a habit of forgetting.
Leah looked up at the foggy sky. The moon was already creeping out, and she was so late.
She ran.
By the time she got to the disinfecting hospital doors, she was tired, sweaty, and had three more blisters to count. It was dark and cold.
It got even colder once she stepped inside and got blasted with the disinfecting gust.
She was shivering as she ran up to the hospital reception desk.
“Sorry, hun, visitation hours are over,” the nurse said, not looking up from her holo-charts. At least there was a human nurse tonight. It was impossible to bargain with the robot ones.
“Please,” Leah begged as she took out the box of chocolates and placed it on the counter. She knew the drill by now. If she came in carrying treats, the staff was more lenient. “I just need five minutes.”
The nurse’s beady eyes honed in on the box before taking Leah in. Her gaze softened.
