"So how do you know that Ulysses guy?" I huff, my knuckles hit the punching bag in rapid succession. Kaden casually holds the bag from the other side. We've been here for the last hour or so, rotating who gets the bag and who holds it. Running. Just generally getting our pent up rage out. He sighs, and I stop punching, waiting for an answer. When I don't get one, I go to ask again, but he releases the bag, lets it swing for a second, and then walks out. I just stand there.
"Are you coming or what?" He calls over his shoulder.
"Oh ya sorry." I unwrap my hands, throwing the wraps back into the cubbie with my name holoed in front of it. I hurry after Kaden, and he leads me through a bunch of different seemingly identicle hallways. After a while we stop at a door icon with a rotating holo reading Kaden; Sapphire in front of it. He presses the icon, and it opens. "I've been meaning to ask. These icons, are they all always unlocked here, or..." Kaden raises an eyebrow at me.
"No. I guess they wouldn't have very up to date icons back on Milyn, but in Astran and Aitmil, the icons are all programed to recognize whoever presses it and either deny or grant entry based on the pre programmed settings. I'm kind of surprised your parents never told you about them. It seems the type of thing you'd tell your kids as some bed time story if it's a foreign concept." I shrug.
"Bronzers don't really tend to spend much time with their kids nowadays. There's not enough time. Nobody gets payed enough to buy food, clothes, the works, and actually spend time with family anymore." Kaden just nods. He can't understand, but I appriciate him not judging it as many of the higher classes tend to do.
"Sit. I'm gonna get us some hot chocolate, and then I'll tell you my history with Ulysses." I sit down on one of the couches in his living room and get comfortable while he goes and gets the drinks.
"Thanks." While he's gone, I take a look around. There's not much in the way of personal touches. It's kind of depressing really. I take a note to decorate my own rooms. It might make me feel more at home.
"Here." He hands me a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and I set it down on the table in front of the couch im sitting on. He does the same and sits down next to me. "He's my brother." Kaden blurts out, and my eyes go wide.
"What? But you-"
"Look nothing alike. I know. We used to get that a lot. Turns out we had different fathers. When he went to get assigned, they figured it out and alerted his real father. A diamond, who quickly pulled a few strings and got him in. Me? I was left behind as some sort of sick calateral damage. My dad freaked when he found out, and Ulysses went back home after a week here and threw it all in my dads face. I saw the whole thing. He basically berated him about how bad of a dad he was to us, how lucky he was to be able to have parented a Diamond. All this shit. Then, he threatened to get me sent to Milyn on my assignment day if we didn't cut ties and move to the other side of Astran, and forget he ever existed. Something about not wanting news to get around that he was a bastard. Didn't want to ruin his new shiney life, I guess." Kaden purses his lips, residual anger written all over his face.
"I'm so sorry, Kaden. That was really shitty of him." I hug him, and he nods, still tense.
"It's fine. It's over now, and with Mercy as my Diamond, he can't even touch me anymore. That stunt he just pulled back at the pool, even that was pushing it. Mercy could have him katoraintad for that." I gasp, covering my mouth. Katorainta is something almost unheard of in recent years. It's a devestating barbaric and humiliating ritual.
"What's so special about Mercy?" I question.
"She's the Daughter of Nia's Diamond. Her parents are basically The Diamonds. Like if everyone got bumped down a level, they'd still be Diamonds. Their blood line is Diamonds as far back as records go. Nobody in their family has ever been enything but a Diamond as far as anyone can tell. So ya. Basically he'd be pissing off like 99 percent of the Diamonds if he went after me, considering they all idolize Mercy's parents, esspecially after they did all those fund raising campaigns for Bronzers. They're almost as good as Angels in Aitmil."
"And yet they produced that little vixen." I grin, and Kaden laughs, smiling.
"That they did. Do you wanna watch a flatty?" I giggle.
"You mean a Movie?"
"What? No. A Flatty. A Flat sim."
"Dude. That's so stupid. It's called a movie or a TV show."
"Whatever, weirdo. I don't know what they call it on Milyn, but in Astran they call it a Flatty. Now come on. I have a screen in my room."
_________
"How is it again that you actually enjoy this?" I wince, gripping Kaden's arm as the killer plunges his axe into the head of another victim.
"Oh come on. What kind of Sapphire would I be if I couldn't enjoy a little bit of violence?"
"Kay seriously can we watch something else?" Kaden's face lights up and he quickly swipes the air, stopping the movie and shutting it off in one gesture.
"How about we play my favorite game instead?" He sits up, grinning.
"It depends on what your favorite game is." I reply apprehensively.
"I think you'll enjoy it." I huff, and he bounces up and down like a child.
"Kay you're killing me please just tell me?" I beg.
"Drum roll please..." He waits, and I half heartedly hit the comforter a few times. "It's called prank wars!" He says in a game show host's voice, puffing his chest out and smiling. I already love the sound of this.
"Oh shit this is gonna be bomb." Kaden gets up and goes over to his desk. He opens up one of the drawers, grabbing some stationary.
"Now here's the rules. Expect pay back. This is a long time tradition in Aitmil, and basically everyone does it. The second rule is it can't be anything that can't be undone. So nothing particularly harmful or dangerous." I nod, leaning forward in anticipation. "Third and final rule is to try and make sure whoever you prank won't know it was you." I crinkle my eyebrows.
"What? I thought it was just you prank your diamond." Kaden laughs, tilting his head to the side in question.
"Of course not. I said everyone does it. It's even tracked in that room they introduced you in the other day. I'm surprised you didn't notice the giant holo on the back of the doors. The blue one on the left is us, the white number on the left is the diamonds. It resets every week." He taps his desk and scrolls through a few different images before getting to two rotating numbers that hang in the air. The blue one reads 15 while the white one reads 9. "As you can see, the Sapphires tend to lead. The diamonds never want to get too dirty, so their pranks usually suck. Unless it's Mercy." He grimaces contorting his face in mock horror. "Mercy's last prank consisted of a bathbomb, an egg, and reprogramming the jets in the victim's tub to spew mustard." I gasp.
"But aren't bath bombs dangerous? Isn't that against the rules?" Kaden looks at me silently, dumbstruck. He lets out a small snort.
"Lyn. You do know that bath bombs aren't actually bombs... Right?" I puzzle.
"What? But they're called bombs..." I front, frustrated.
"Emberlyn! That's not... Emmy. Love. It's just a name. A bath bomb is basically just a fizzy colorful thing you put into your bath for fun." Why is Aitmil so confusing? Nobody would name something harmless after a weapon in Milyn.
"Why would anyone name a toy after a weapon of mass destruction?" Kaden shakes his head at me, face palming.
"Em. Just... It's not a bomb. I don't know how to explain this to be honest. It's not exactly something I've ever had to explain. Ask Crystal about it." I nod, flushing. "Now how about we go figure out who we're going to prank first..."652Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJM98DTbr3
"Ya sure."
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