(A/n: apologies for the wait, I had been unwell in recent days. Ill be posting 5 more additional chapters later on to make up for missing days)
There were very few things capable of pulling me away from my work.
An urgent message from Angel could do it.
A serious problem with one of my experiments could do it.
My parents requesting my presence usually did it, though that depended entirely on whether they were asking as my parents or as researchers.
My older sister, however, possessed a method that none of them had ever considered.
She simply walked into my laboratory, reached over my shoulder, and switched off the holographic display in front of me.
I stared at the empty space where three hours of nanomachine simulations had been floating.
Then I slowly turned my head.
Serana stood behind my chair with one hand resting on the control panel and the other placed against her hip. Her long hair had been tied back into a loose ponytail, and instead of her usual academy clothes, she wore a comfortable jacket over a dark shirt and fitted trousers.
She smiled pleasantly.
It was the kind of smile that usually meant she had already decided something for me.
I narrowed my eyes.
"What did you doing?"
"I turned off the display."
"I noticed."
"Good. I was worried the implants had started affecting your eyesight."
I glanced toward the other workstations. Several secondary displays remained active, but the central simulation had entered standby mode.
"You could have asked me to stop."
"I did."
"When?"
"Three times."
I searched my recent memory.
She had entered the laboratory seven minutes ago.
She had said my name once from the doorway.
Then again while walking toward me, but she had then decided to wait a few minutes, as I was in deep focus.
The third time had been from directly behind my chair.
I had registered all three attempts.
I had also apparently categorized them as non-urgent background information and continued working.
"...Right."
Serana leaned closer.
"Is something wrong?" I asked her.
"Yes."
Her expression immediately became serious.
For half a second, I wondered whether something had happened upstairs.
Then she reached forward and pressed one finger against my forehead.
"My little brother has forgotten that the world outside this laboratory exists."
"I haven't forgotten."
"When was the last time you left the house for something that wasn't school or research?"
I opened my mouth.
Then stopped.
Serana waited patiently even as her smug expression grew on her face.
I reviewed the previous month.
Academy.
Laboratory.
A medical facility where Father had taken me to inspect a prototype neural interface.
A research symposium with Mother.
None of those counted.
"8 days ago," I said eventually.
Her eyebrows rose.
"Oh?"
"I went to the northern fabrication district."
"To collect materials for your project."
"That still required leaving the house."
"Raime."
"What?"
"That doesn't count."
"Why not?"
"Because collecting laboratory materials is still work."
"It was also a pleasant walk."
"You used an automated transit pod."
"The platform was outdoors."
She stared at me.
I stared back.
Neither of us spoke for several seconds.
Serana finally released a long sigh and covered her face with one hand.
"This is worse than I thought."
"I think you're exaggerating."
"I think you need sunlight."
"The laboratory lighting contains a full-spectrum setting."
She lowered her hand and gave me a look of genuine disbelief.
"You're doing this deliberately now."
"Only partially."
She stepped around my chair and began closing the remaining displays one after another.
I watched her dismiss a diagnostic panel.
Then a structural simulation.
Then one of my open research articles.
"Serana."
"No."
"I didn't ask anything."
"You were going to."
She shut down the final display before taking hold of my wrist.
"Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"Outside."
"I refuse."
"I refuse your refusal. You've been hiding underground long enough to start resembling a cave creature."
"I attend the academy five days a week."
"And you spend the entire time staring at screens."
"That's because most of the work is performed through screens."
She pulled me out of the chair.
I could have resisted.
Not forcefully, obviously, but enough to remain seated.
Instead, I allowed her to drag me toward the laboratory exit.
"How long will this take?"
"The entire day."
I stopped walking.
Serana's arm straightened as she reached the limit of her grip.
She looked back at me.
"The entire day?"
"Yes."
"I have several simulations running."
"Lyra's prototype monitoring system can alert you if anything fails."
"Lyra isn't a completed artificial intelligence."
"Then your ordinary monitoring programs can alert you."
Serana appeared to recognize the exact moment I accepted defeat. You can't fight against older siblings in any lifetime it seems.
Her smile returned.
"Good."
"I didn't agree."
"You stopped resisting."
"Those aren't the same thing."
"They are today, let's go my gremlin little brother."
───
Aurix-9's residential districts were considerably quieter than its research sectors.
Our home stood near the edge of a broad, elevated city platform surrounded by artificial woodland and carefully maintained gardens. Beyond the platform, several levels of the city descended along the natural curvature of the landscape.
The skyline was filled with narrow silver towers, glass-covered laboratories, suspended bridges and transit rails that carried glowing vehicles between districts.
Nothing on Aurix-9 was allowed to appear entirely artificial.
Trees grew along the walkways.
Vines climbed specially designed support structures.
Small streams of filtered water passed between buildings and disappeared into recycling systems hidden beneath the streets.
Even the air carried the faint scent of flowers instead of industrial fumes.
Serana waited while I adjusted the settings of my neural implant.
"What are you doing?"
"Reducing external network activity."
She blinked.
"Why?"
"Because if I leave it fully active, I'll continue receiving laboratory updates."
"You're willingly disconnecting from work?"
"Partially."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"I'm so proud."
"Don't make this dramatic."
"My little brother is growing up."
"You're only several years older than me."
"And yet somehow much wiser."
"That's debatable."
She slipped her arm around mine and pulled me toward the nearest transit walkway.
"Where are we actually going?" I asked.
"I planned several places to visit."
"Such as?"
"Food, the central market, the wildlife conservatory and the upper observation gardens."
"That sounds boring."
"It's meant to be fun, not efficient."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive."
"Today they are."
The moving walkway carried us toward a public transit hub. People passed in both directions, some accompanied by service robots while others communicated through holographic projections floating beside them.
Serana glanced at me.
"You know, most younger brothers would be happy that their older sister wants to spend time with them."
"I am happy."
"You don't look happy."
"This is how I normally look."
"Exactly."
I looked at her.
She smiled innocently.
"You've become increasingly insulting since we left the house."
"It's my responsibility to keep you humble."
"I don't remember assigning you that responsibility. And why do you always talk so weird, you talk like a need.
"I made ir my responsibility to remind you that you are inferior to me older sister."
"You arrogant little shit!"
"Ah, point one to Raime."
"Huh, wait what?!"
"Thats 1-0 dear older sister, you should put in the work to not fall behind."
"Why you-"
The transit pod arrived before she could respond and I rushed in leaving her at the bottom as she failed to get on in time. Due to how busy Aurix-9 was, there was near to zero waiting chances for transport.
By tge time she made it to the top I had used my hands to indicate 2 - 0 tallying this as a round won to me.
───
Our first destination was a restaurant suspended near the middle level of the city.
One entire wall was transparent, giving us a view of the districts below and the passing aerial traffic outside.
Serana selected a table near the window.
I reviewed the digital menu.
She reached across and pushed it down.
"No."
I looked at her.
"No what?"
"No to what you are doing!."
"I'm reading."
"You're analysing every ingredient."
"That's part of reading."
"Choose something because it tastes good."
"Nutrition should still be considered."
"You are fourteen."
"That doesn't make nutrition irrelevant."
"It means you should be capable of eating fried food without treating it like a moral failure."
I looked back at the menu.
"What are you ordering?"
"The spiced Narried strips."
"Those aren't from real Narrieds."
"I know."
"They're cultured protein shaped to resemble—"
"I know, Raime."
"The sauce contains an excessive amount of sugar."
Serana folded her arms.
"Order them."
"You just criticized my eating habits."
"I criticized the fact that your eating habits resemble those of a forty-year-old medical researcher."
That description was uncomfortably close to the truth.
I reluctantly selected the same meal.
Serana smiled in satisfaction.
While we waited, she leaned her elbows against the table.
"So."
I immediately became suspicious.
"So what?"
"Who is Angel?"
For that one moment, my normally stone cold facade had cracked as my eyes widened in shock suprise.