The Elevator

Red lightning flashed irresistibly in her viz and Hailah-CCA paused the room.

It had been a month… her heart thumped but she ignored the lightning. He would be notified as soon as she opened the message, and she wanted him to assume she was busy, she was rooming like every other social girl on a Saturday night. Never mind that she had paused and her friends were knocking her.

Hailah-CCA flicked and the bar room formed in her viz, becoming loud with the sounds of conversation. Generic music blasted – something she vaguely recognised but couldn’t place. She was distracted. She was also a little drunk, but sober enough to hide it while her mind raced.

“Sorry sorry,” she said. “I think I got a message from my mum?”

“Oh, how is she?” her best friend Kaiy-NTL asked. But was she her best friend? Kaiy-NTL had been quiet over the last few weeks, no rooms, no messages. No invitations. She had roomed tonight but she was wearing a filter. Usually they didn’t wear filters with the girls because it smoothed out the lines, and laughter looked weird without the lines.

“She’s good? I mean like, as good as edge-life can be.” Not to mention that she was decaying rapidly, even at the outer rim of the toxic air that permeated everywhere else. But Hailay-CCA couldn’t think about that, and why her mother had chosen to abandon the safety of the city ecosystem. “She’s gone total anti-viz, says she wants real messy connection, whatever that is?” Hailah-CCA mimicked her mum’s voice, and the girls laughed. Yeah, filter-face laughter looked weird.

“Wow your mum is full edger,” Emani-NR said, sounding both admiring and disgusted. “Like its dirty, and speaking to randoms? It’s not even a halo mode, y’know? And edger randoms… who knows what they want?”

A halo flickered, catching their attention. Kaiy-NTR had switched from social to tired.

“Sorry guys, is that okay?” she said, smiling apologetically.

“But you haven’t roomed in ages!” Hailah-CCA bit her lip as soon as she said it. People were entitled to their space.

Kaiy-NTR was forgiving, but her eyes were unreadable. “Next time, maybe? See ya!” She disappeared.

“She’s being weird?” Tarin-MZA noted. The girls nodded, and Hailah-CCA felt better that she wasn’t the only one who had noticed. After a bit of discussion though, one halo after another switched to tired, and they disappeared.

Hailah-CCA stayed on social.

She opened the lightning, and had to smile at the explicit message that Eliv-T had sent. It was always the same with him, but she hoped to change that. Why keep matching her over and over when there were so many options in the ecosystem? He always haloed casual-only, but so did she because otherwise every weirdo random wanted something, and she just wanted Eliv-T. It had been driving her crazy, so last time she had changed her halo to open-to-more, and she thought he had noticed. Then she had ‘accidentally’ left her heart-shaped locket there, so he would have something real of hers.

She flicked a message back, letting him see her room tag. A few seconds later he appeared.

“Oh hey,” he said, grinning. Hailah-CCA couldn’t help but smile back. He was fire and she frequently could not believe he kept matching her. The room was public domain and some bored girls glanced at him appreciatively, but they couldn’t do anything. Public, but invitation only. She controlled her space in the room.

“Who invited you here?” Hailah-C asked coyly, sidling closer to him. He slipped an arm around her waist – not quite as good as the real thing but enough to get her heart racing. Damn she wanted him.

“Mmm I don’t know, I think maybe I joined the wrong room?” He bent his head toward her ear, his breath caressing her neck. “Who are you again?”

She gave a low laugh, wrapping her arms around him. “I think we’ve met maybe once? Or twice? Hard to remember.”

Eliv-T drew his face back slightly, his dark green eyes watching her in a way that made her warm all over. Yeah, he was drunk too. But the way he looked at her…

“Oh, I definitely remember,” he said, and then kissed her. She could have stayed that way forever, but he broke off. “How long?” he asked.

“Ten minutes maybe?”

“Mmm too long… I might have to fuck you in the elevator.”

He grinned wickedly and disappeared before she could respond.

Hailah-CCA shut the room. The sudden silence of her unit was disconcerting, and she gazed out at the cityscape – a window sim, but real windows were pointless with the toxic grey-green air. She hastily went to the bathroom and checked her face. She corrected a few flaws and smoothed her hair.

Five minutes.

Hailah-CCA flicked her journey as she ran out her door, not bothering to confirm that it was locked. She had read that people had used to be vigilant about that stuff back before the outside had become uninhabitable, but now the buildings kept out anyone from anywhere they weren’t supposed to be. She had never even been forced to interact with her neighbours, that’s how good the building’s warnings were. No doubt if anyone had been about to leave just now, they would have been warned that there was a random in the hall.

She slowed to a walk as she got to the elevator. It was already open when she arrived, her individual journey predicted and accounted into the wider city ecosystem.

She got in. Three minutes. Hailah-CCA distracted herself watching the viz feed so it took her a few moments to realise when someone stepped into the elevator with her.

“Hi.”

Hailah-CCA blinked, then stared at the owner of the voice. She was tall and slim, with dark hair and honest-to-god real tattoos all down her neck and arms. Her face was angles, too sharp to be beautiful but striking in a way that caught Hailah-CCA’s attention. She leaned against the elevator wall and regarded Hailah-CCA with a smile that was halfway between a smirk and an invitation to share some dark joke.

“Calm down,” the girl said, still with that half-smile. Hailah-CCA found herself oddly compelled by her voice – there was an edge there, something ironic and real and dangerous. “Sharing an elevator isn’t so terrible.”

I might have to fuck you in the elevator.

“True,” Hailah-CCA conceded, watching the girl. She frowned. “I think I’ve seen you before.”

“Really. They usually blind the walls so we can’t be seen. I recognise you though. I’ve served you only, oh a million times.”

The memory triggered. “You work in the café in HF block,” Hailah-CCA stated. “The building where I work. I saw you… You were smoking in the green-space.” A violation of ecosystem rules, and completely inconsiderate of others, as the building had informed the girl. She had told the building to fuck off.

Then Hailah-CCA shuttered. Had she just told a random where she worked? Who knew what someone like her wanted? She didn’t even have a public halo.

The girl grinned. “You’ve got a good memory, or maybe I’m just memorable.”

Hailah-CCA smiled. “Or both.” Her voice was low, and far flirtier than she had intended. What was happening? Her prom levels must be haywire – she mentally noted to check later.

The girl gave a slow smile. “I wrote you my chat-ID on your coffee cup that time.”

Hailah-CCA blinked. “I don’t think I noticed… sorry.” She genuinely was, but she had no idea why. She felt like she had missed out on something. Like she had taken a tube only to find out someone she knew had been there moments before.

Serendipity, a voice that sounded suspiciously like her mother supplied.

The girl shrugged. “Unsurprising. No one pays attention beyond the viz. But you did see me, it seems. And I saw you.” There was a chime, and the elevator doors opened. “Maybe we’ll see each other again.”

The girl sidled out. But instead of heading for the tube, she went to the pressure-doors, and next thing was outside. Hailah-CCA stared. Breathing that air for thirty minutes was two months off the girl’s life. She wanted to call after her, find out her name, but then her timer flashed red.

One minute delay.

“Whoops,” she muttered, hurrying to the tube. It took her to T block, and the girl was forgotten as she saw Eliv-T standing by the elevator.

“Making me wait, huh?” he noted.

“Two whole minutes?” she replied. Had she switched her halo to open-for-more? She couldn’t remember.

“Hmm,” he glanced at her, then said, “share your prom levels.”

Hailah-CCA blanched. “No way.”

He grinned. “Come on, I want to see how bad you want me right now. Maybe I’ll make you wait…”

Hailah-CCA hid her face, then flicked.

A few seconds, then he laughed. “Where was your mind at in the elevator, huh? I might have over-promised… I think the building would douse us in sanitiser. But…” he drew her into the waiting doors. “Doesn’t mean we can’t get started.”

They kissed as the elevator whizzed them upward. Hailah-CCA knew next to nothing about Eliv-T, except that he had serious funds to have a T block unit. Not to mention, as his door swung open in anticipation of their arrival, he had somehow acquired a two-person unit even though he was alone.

“Want a drink?” he offered.

“Sure.” As he busied himself, Hailah-CCA took in his living space. It was messy again, which spoke to the impromptu lightning strike and his comfort with her. But she put that aside – she was searching for something.

“By the way,” she asked casually, after a few seconds of fruitless gazing. “I think I left my necklace here? Heart-shaped locket.” The description seemed unnecessary, like maybe he could get confused with all the other jewellery.

Eliv-T thought about this for a second. “Nope, don’t think so.”

That jolted her. “What?”

“Haven’t seen it.”

Hailah-CCA swallowed, trying to control shock. She hadn’t considered this as a possibility. At worst, rejection, but her efforts to be completely unnoticed? “I definitely left it here,” she said slowly.

Eliv-T stared at her, clearly confused by her sudden change in tone. “Sorry? Maybe I threw it out.”

“But… why? It was obviously mine!” her voice raised. “I left it on this counter.”

His face hardened. “Look, I don’t know where your shit is. Was it valuable?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Then why are you bitching?”

Hailah-CCA grit her teeth. “It’s about the fucking principle. It was mine, and real, and you didn’t care.”

Eliv-T frowned. “Look, I’m sorry okay? I haven’t seen it. Can we chill now?”

She didn’t know how to say what she wanted, so she shrugged and then they chilled and that took the place of conversation.

When she took the elevator back down to the ground, she decided to go outside.

It was dark and the air stank of dust and sulphur and bleach. No one was out but the bots blasting counter-chemicals in a laborious effort to clean the air. It occurred to her that once, she could have been killed walking alone in the dark. Now she never interacted with anyone except by invitation.

Not entirely, she corrected, remembering the elevator incident.

Which was so weird, the more she thought about it. She would have to block that café. Her friends would be mortified that there were people out there who didn’t care about intruding on her space. Certainly the girl had looked like that sort of weirdo. She went outside for no reason! Hailah-CCA didn’t know whether to be excited or disgusted by the fact that she might accidentally run into her again.

Hailah-CCA arrived at CCA block, coughing, and was welcomed by the elevator. No one unexpectedly joined her, and soon she was back in her silent unit, completely and safely alone.