Considering everything about her job-the people she worked with, how much she was paid, the confidentiality of the stuff she worked with-Sarah Marlow probably shouldn’t have been bored. That hadn’t changed the fact that she was doomscrolling on company time.

  She hadn’t expected to be stuck here as long as she had. There was still work she had to do before finishing up for the night, but she foolishly didn’t bring her laptop with her. She hadn’t even brought a book with her. Just a HoloBracer and a whole lot of anger on the internet. Even extensive powers to let the government prune the Internet hadn’t stopped it. Most of it was about nothing, conspiracy theories and unfocused hate, and yet Sarah was weirdly fascinated with it.

  Kable had been chatting away with practically everyone in the studio, from the audience to the presenter to even a few more attractive members of the crew. She’d heard he’d always do this, but had never realised how diligent he was with making sure everyone in the studio was under his thrall. She had to admit he had a way with words, and despite how she’d found him in the dressing room, the interview had gone swimmingly. Working with him so much and so closely gave her a different view of him, though. The voice that was warm and kindly now was coldly hypnotic when no one else was around to hear it.

  She had to wonder which voice was the real one.

  Eventually, after having a leisurely chat with the entirety of Avalon, Kable walked away from the audience and came backstage to see Sarah.

  “You look like a child waiting to be picked up from school,” he said.

  “The one time this whole week I’ve been able to slow down and I’m bored,” she admitted.

  “You struck me as the kind of person who’d get bored easily. Go home early. There’s not much left to do, I can mop up everything back at the tower.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. I’m the one with a six figure salary, I might as well earn it. Go see your son.”

  Sarah smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Kable. I’ll head home.”

  She turned around, packed up what little stuff she’d brought, and walked out of the studio and into the bland white hallways. The partially underground Avalon Studios complex often felt more like a prison than an entertainment venue. Kable had been up there for so long that most people had gone home other than the janitors and the security guards. Two of the guards were talking about some girl they stopped at the entrance, but Sarah didn’t care about listening in. She just needed to get out. Sarah walked out the backdoor and into the city streets.

  Even by the standards of a city at midnight, Avalon was dead. The city had minimal nightlife, and the only human interaction Sarah saw on her trip to the suburbs was advertisements trying to sell her…shampoo? She wasn’t really listening. It was eerie, being in such a massive, empty place that was still so brightly lit. She bemoaned the lack of public transport; even though Avalon was at least designed well for foot traffic, it just made her more uncomfortable being here.

  Her path by coincidence took her past James’ school. She took a look at the construction site, covered in police tape. It had been on her mind for a while. Something about the whole thing hadn’t added up to her; why would someone break into an empty pile of dirt and girders in the middle of the night? And when would the propane be lit up?

  And, most importantly, what had her son been up to that night?

  Pulling herself away from her theories before they spiraled out of control, she continued out into the suburbs. After what felt like forever, Sarah mercifully returned home. Sarah walked through the door and immediately threw her high heels in the corner. She sighed, relieved to finally be home after such a long day listening to Kable talk, and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. James was sitting at the counter, eating a piece of toast. She was surprised that the first person she’d seen after leaving the studio was her son.

  “Heya,” He tried to say while his mouth was still full.

  “What are you doing up at this hour?” She asked.

  He swallowed before continuing, “Been in VR for a while. I’m hungry.”

  He went to devour the rest of the toast. Sarah nodded. She’d never done much VR herself; gaming was never really her thing. The one time she’d been under for a long time she had come up extremely thirsty, absolutely starving and having no idea what time it was. Completely dissociating from her body made her anxious and she’d tried to avoid it when possible. James didn’t seem to care as much. It helped that he had friends in there.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She ruffled James’ hair. He barely reacted.

  “Get to bed soon, ok?”

  James swallowed what he was eating and then asked, “What’s he like?”

  “What, Kable? He’s…nice, actually. I thought he’d be stuck up and horrible, but he’s laid back, reasonable and just…kinda normal.”

  “Only kinda?”

  “I don’t think it’s possible for a billionaire to come out completely sane. Still, I heard him do an interview today. Did you watch it?”

  James shook his head. “Playing games.”

  Sarah sighed. She couldn’t exactly complain about her son not caring about politics: most people didn’t these days.

  “He speaks really well,” she continued. “He was fighting for the healthcare bill the whole interview, tried to get the audience involved and talked to them afterwards, got on well with the host. I don’t think the interview could have gone better, and I kinda trust him in a way I never used to. I get why the people who know him say he should run for president.”

  “Hm. Ok.”

  Sarah sighed and sat down opposite James. “What’s wrong?”

  “What? Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.” His thoughts were clearly elsewhere, barely looking at her.

  “You’re not hiding anything from me? I mean, like, obviously you’re allowed to hide stuff from me at this age. But…I heard about what happened with Grey.”

  James suddenly perked up. Sarah continued, “They went to hospital, right? I heard it was pretty serious.”

  “Who did you hear that from?” James asked.

  “Some of the nurses are old school friends. We still keep in touch.”

  James raised an eyebrow.

  “I still have a social life outside of you, you know!” She said incrediously.

  “I-I didn’t mean that at all!” James stuttered. “I just didn’t know any of them would live in Avalon.”

  “Anyway,” Sarah said, returning to her previous, calmer tone, “I didn’t realise before, but it was the same night that there was that explosion next to the school.”

  “And? Multiple accidents can happen on the same night.”

  “Hey, I’m not suggesting you blew anyone up or anything!” She laughed. “I’m just…I’m worried about you. You’ve been really quiet recently whenever I’ve seen you.”

  Which wasn’t much, she thought. She’d been busy trying to work part time jobs to make ends meet until her new role at Kabletech started. Property in Avalon wasn’t cheap, and even with a job like being the right hand man to a billionaire and her husband being in the military, it was enough to let them live comfortably but not securely. It didn’t help James was always unconscious whenever she got home, whether that be due to VR or exhaustion.

  “So, the explosion happened, Grey was hurt, you’re really out of it…I just want to look out for you, James. Dad would be doing the same thing if he was still here. Only worse.”

  James smiled back at her, giggling a little. “I miss him.”

  “He’s on leave again in three months.”

  James sighed. “I wish it was sooner.”

  “We need to go on another holiday sometime,” Sarah said. “Maybe when dad comes back. No, we’re not going to Kableland again.”

  James shuddered. “I heard it closed, and yet its ghost still haunts us all…”

  “Now you sound like Patrick.”

  “He rubs off on you if you’re around him for long enough. It’s kinda scary.”

  Sarah sighed. “This was so much easier when we could go to Europe.”

  He thought for a second. “We should go to Florida. Never been to the Underwater City before. The idea of a sunken city has always fascinated me, especially one that’s like ours.”

  “I’ve heard it’s super expensive.”

  James shrugged. “Where isn’t these days? Besides, we only live once. Could get blown up in a few days. Might as well do everything we want to do.”

  Sarah sighed. “Alright. Hopefully my new wage can cover this.”

  “We’ve got three months to save up. We’ll be fine.”

  “You’re such an optimist. Anyway, I’m exhausted.”

  “Same!”

  Sarah looked confused. “I didn’t think you could get exhausted in there. Hungry and thirsty, yeah, but not exhausted.”

  “It’s exhausting in a different way. You can go to bed, I’ll lock up the house and everything.”

  “Thank you, James. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Sarah walked past James, gave him a hug, and went upstairs. Soon afterwards, James would finish her toast, do the things he said he’d do, and follow her into sleep.