The tech install traveling troupe hit up two more settlements before they reached the final one, at the edge of the west side of the Playground. Like any merry IT crew, they were carrying gifts and miracles in the forms of keyboards, vents, power supplies and the bulkiest computers they could scrounge up from what Syna haggled on the markets.

  A four-story building was chosen as the local access point by the people there, preferring to keep that kind of technology as a public service then keep it in their homes. “We like our quiet lives. And those things-” pointed one of the younger folks, explaining their reasoning- “buzz inside your brain.”

  ….

  Melina-” C’mon, you can do this. I pushed bigger cogs up a scrapyard hill before, I can do it!” A pair of trembling fingers tried to hype a motivation while taking one colossal step after another. The steep incline of the stairs mixed with the tight stairway made the climb that much difficult. “ I’ll ask Savan to give me a week shut inside my cell after we’re done here. No contact, just coma.” She looked around the package and saw the first floor sign, and all the light left her eyes.

  Syna- “ Being stuck in there left you a bit out of shape. At leasts, that’s my guess. I remember you carrying captures while running for kilometers, no sweat breaking.” The hacker quipped, leisurely carrying some cables and boxes with light memory cards.

  A line formed behind and in front of them, as the layout of the staircase restricted how many people could climb parallel to each other. And a bunch of volunteers grabbed some of the equipment to help them. Like in many other settlements, it was a mix of former Commune citizens from all the levels. Here, though, the numbers were skewed fifty-fifty; a boon for the Council, as one of the issues they faced was how many upper-level refugees were outright banned from half of the villages.

  Syna recognized some of them, former middle managers and employees in cushy, birocratic positions who were now grunting away with some of their former underlings.

  Syna- “ Huh. I think I did some jobs for some of them. Side gigs, anonymous file cracking, stuff like that…” Her reminisce, unfortunately, stuck her in place right when Melina was about to take another crucial step, making her bump into the hacker and startling her concentration.

  Melina- “ Daydream later and move your butt already”, she cried out in a harsh, ragged voice. Hands were trembling and so were the knees, both which were kept in check only by the perpetual motion of climbing. This sudden break, though, ruined the precocious jenga tower of focus. The heavy computer was tilting to the right.

  -” Hey, watch out”, yelled a few metallic hands, who rushed out to stabilize the computer. Syna and the nearest folks grabbed on just in time to stabilize the equipment.

  Melina- “ Hesus, thanks for the help. That was close, by the way”, growled the bodyguard behind the bangs of hair that now covered half of her face.

  Syna- “ Ow…you should be more careful with that, almost hurt yourself back there.”

  Melina- “ I…what? Yes, I almost hurt myself because someone thought brown walls were mesmerizing.”

  Syna- “Maybe, but that’s not the point. You insisted on carrying it by yourself, ‘ yeah guys, check out my gear’”, she repeated in a mocking tone, flexing her skinny arms- “ ‘Zin brand, right here, best military upgrades.’ “

  It's been a while since the bodyguard actually felt her veins contracting and her words trying to violently break out of her gut. Anger like this was something she was still working on keeping in line, but somehow, Syna managed to press the right buttons to make the prisoner slip.

  Melina- “ You keep bringing my family’s name like it's some curse I’m carrying”, she spit out, followed by a deep breath.”Alright. If it makes you feel better, then yes. I repent for choosing to be born in a violent enforcer household. I repent for choosing what kind of future my family imposed on me and I repent-” A cold air entered her lungs and that in that moment a decision was being weighed. Should it be brought up that Syna’s lineage went way above her own?

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  Syna- “ Well, does aren’t exactly I mean by…you could have-”

  Melina- “ Oh, piss right off with that attitude, miss ‘ I wanted to become a CEO because of my daddy and mommy issue’.” Syna’s body felt a spike of overtime in her adrenal glands, hard at work pumping industrial levels of cortisol. She was more than prepared to increase this verbal battle in an outright war of attrition, but a sudden intervention from the nation of Sovereign reined them in from the last floor.

  Sovereign- “ Interesting. Humans are truly the masters of everything, including wasting time and energy. We still have three more packages to carry, remember?”

  Neither of the girls wanted to back off, but a silent truce was reached and they reached the highest place.

  Sovereign- “ Good. For now, the two of you should keep some distance. Syna-”

  Syna- “ Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I’ll keep myself under a pile of cables, installing the computer and server.”

  …..

  Cutting three hours with the help of the divide, the teams finished most of the work at almost the exact moment when the dome’s light shuts off from the east side, slowly moving towards their part. Sovereign approaches Melina, who was scribbling some notes down at some table set up by the locals.

  Sovereign- “ Interrupting?”

  The bodyguard lifted her chin, trying to center her eyes to the C.T.D. faux ones. “Ughhh…no?”, she replied, bending a paper corner before closing her notebook.”

  Sovereign- “ Mind if I ask about that?”

  Melina- “ This? Something Savan proposed. Said…ughh…that keeping some writings of my activities may help ease tension with the rest of the council. About me…I think.”

  The cyborg let out a noise that Melina thought was a snort. “ Interesting idea. False though. The counselor is more simple than that. They are just trying as many methods as possible to help you integrate. And are probably interested in your point of view as well.”

  Melina- “ Yeah? I thought that as well. Still don’t understand why.”

  Sovereign- “ Optimism. The clopies lacked that, especially during my time. But Savan had it, and were lucky to find a group that accepted and nurtured it…which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Melina’s body tensed, instinctively reaching for the empty holsters. While appearing reserved, Sovereign was still the C.T.D. bought by the second ranked company to help their R.O.C. patient win against Billy. With a record to support its possible chances.

  Melina- “ About…Syna?”

  To her shock, the cyborg once more mimicked a non-verbal expression, sighing in distress. As if they were a parent at wits ends, they started blabbering about their issues.

  Sovereign- “ After the incident in my village, with the dive fiasco, and seeing everything first-hand, I believe you can be trusted. But Syna, Chiranis and a few others…are suspicious of your every move. Let’s just also say that a recent case of other proof of infiltrations raised our alarms even higher.”

  The bodyguard twitched for a moment. ”Signs”, she remembered. The thing she waited for two years, lounging around aimlessly has finally started to appear. The Commune was, at last, doing something- “...and my interest level is not high? , she thought, expecting to have her heart burst with joy.

  Sovereign- “ Syna is now overextending herself, trying to make sure that the local network she’s building isn’t being tampered with. And keeping you-”

  Melina- “ In her sight is a way to either catch me in the act or prevent me from doing the tampering?”

  The cyborg nodded. - “ And you remove you from the list of the suspects. Same with your father. Billy is keeping an eye on all of his activities.”

  -” Oh yeah, Fabius is a master floral cracker, should be careful with him”, she snickered, before realizing that if he had a method of communicating with the Commune, he kept it from her. Was he the one the Commune tried to contact?. “No, it makes sense. Keeping the information limited up the chain of command prevents us from suffering from leaks.” Everything she said felt like a lie to her.

  Sovereign- “ He is…dangerous. In my opinion”, they mumbled, pausing for a bit. “ Anyway, if you believe that you and Syna might not mesh well, I would believe it's better that the two of you keep the communication at a…need for work basis. Would that work for you?”

  It was weird, everything about the request was peculiar to her. Except that it made sense. The disdain people would have for her last name was expected, but to have it be used by someone like the hacker felt somewhat insulting to Melina. “ Just…I’ll try. But if her hypocritical ass brings up the Zins or whatever again I’ll-”, she stopped from making a physical threat after catching the intense gaze coming from the C.T.D’s porcelain face- “ insult her and her own family during each talk.”

  Feeling a bit amped up, the girl continued -” Like: ‘ Hey, Robert junior, did you inherit your tech obsession or did that also come with the daddy issues?” She then swirled the wild parts of hair, trying to think of other insults. “ Miss Alvarina, your nose sure looks a bit uptight today. Oh wait, it's always been like that. Like mother, like daughter, am I right?”

  The cyborg couldn’t help keeping in a snort, and decided to leave before feeling too guilty about laughing at their partner. As a goodbye gift, they patted the bodyguard on the shoulder with a finger. “ Good luck on your notes. You shouldn’t try too hard on the handwriting, though, clopies are hardwired from fabrication on how to decipher them.”