Dusk

Chapter Seventeen

Inside my new room, it's barer than bare.

The walls are grey, the bed is grey, and the floor is grey, too. Another mysterious cubicle sits in the corner of the room, and a door leads to the washroom, but besides that the room is as sparse as I've ever seen one.

My suitcase hasn't been brought up yet, and the only interesting part of the room is the large window that takes up a good portion of the wall in front of me that has a fantastic view overlooking the criss-crossing roads and incredibly tall buildings of the Inner Ring.

I sigh and flop down onto the bed, glad to have some time to myself. The bed itself is a larger size than I'm used to, and comfortable. I roll over, content for the moment. Maybe I should take a nap...

The door slides open. Anden comes through, my suitcase in hand, and sets it down on the floor.

"Is everything okay?" I ask. "What took you so long?"

Anden leans against the wall and shrugs. "That man down there gave me a lecture on proximity."

"Proximity? What do you mean?"

"He thought it was his job to tell me that it's not my place to touch you." He rolls his eyes. "He's a little scrawny maid, and it's not up to him to decide what my place is."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

Anden shakes his head. "I solved it, don't worry." He moves away from the wall and looks around. "You didn't activate the DecoHolo? Do you like the room as it is?"

"DecoHolo?"

He moves towards the door and presses on a panel there. A pleasant-sounding female voice reverberates throughout the room and an interface appears on the panel.

"Hello and good morning to you! Please choose a DecoHolo or create your own!"

Anden swipes through a few designs and picks one at random. The room ripples and changes before my eyes: now the walls are a garish pink colour, and the bedding underneath my body is a bright neon green. Random posters have appeared on the walls and a fluffy white rug is on the floor, which has gone from grey to dark faux-wood paneling.

"Not so fond of this one?" Anden asks. "Want another?" He swipes through a few more designs. The dark paneling on the floor becomes almost white and the walls turn sky blue. I look down at the bedding- it's a soft cream colour.

"Better?"

I laugh. "Yeah, way better."

"When you get more furniture, it'll project holograms onto your couches, your desks, whatever."

"Alright," I say, snuggling with my pillows. "Now this is luxury."

"Would you like me to unpack for you?"

I shake my head. "No, that's fine, Anden. You're not actually my servant."

The panel by the door emits a hologram. It's of Kaelan, who's waiting outside the door with a tray of food.

"Give a voice command." Anden prompts.

I blink. "Come in?"

The door slides open and Kaelan comes through. He brushes past Anden (who seems to bristle at the contact) and places the tray on the bed near my feet.

"Would you like anything else, Miss?"

I sit up. "No, that's fine. Thank you."

Kaelan bows his head and leaves, the door sliding shut behind him. Anden looks relieved at his exit.