The Law Of The Land

"Good evening, ladies and gentle..." He grips his knees winded before continuing through ragged breaths. "What would my father say...the figures for TAM this year are promising...we have yet however to drag the undergrounds of enough artifacts, no...our current inventory of hundreds of thousands of dead people junk is not enough-"

I bound onto the stage and pull him away from the mic.

"What? What'd I do?" He says protesting.

"This has been a fun field trip Cass, but it's time to go?" Luca says. We pull Cassian off the stage but stop in our tracks at the sound of slow claps. I squint through the dark and make out the silhouette of a man sitting in the back row. The person slowly makes their way to the stage. An old greying man dressed in white with two neural implants attached to his temple's steps into the light. Luca lets out a soft curse and brings Cassian down with him to kneel.

"Noble Calihan." They say in unison.

"Grand-uncle Calihan-"

"I see you are preparing for the upcoming debate Cassian; I was not aware you were going to be representing The Anthropology Ministry."

"They were just leaving." I say as my blank stare at Luca gestures him to leave, he nods and picks Cassian up, who doesn't put up a fight as they head to the exit. Calihan chuckles.

"I'd take the back entrance; I saw Noble Etta with her signature scowl and the rest of The Consortium headed here."

Cassian lets out a curse as Luca guides him towards the back entrance. I glance at Calihan.

"Why didn't you come in your black-tie suit?" I ask gesturing to his white Citadel white shirt and slacks with his bare feet and try lead him to the back entrance before we're surround by The Consortium. His implants flash red and his face suddenly twists into confusion before his implants return to green as his expression becomes cheerful again.

"I got you a gift," He pulls out a small metal box it whirs as it slowly opens and reveals a glowing azure glass data sphere. "They're a bunch of my documents from when I was a Dune Reaper, from underground tunnels to cool Lost Civilization artifacts. I thought you'd like it as you can't venture into the undergrounds" he says as he closes it and gives it to me.

"Thank you Calihan, but we need don't have time for this. Mother can't see you here like this."

"Keep it safe, it's very delicate. It's made from...it's...it's made from...I honestly can't remember, something that's been happening quite often-"

"We'll have your implants looked at Citadel, let's go." I say looking at his feet as I try get him to move by leading him by his arm.

"All I know is that it's very delicate, ok?" I meet his glare and nod harshly. The erratic lights suddenly stop and the whole auditorium is lit up. Callihan hurriedly shoves the metal box into my pocket. At the top of the stairs, I notice my mother and her two personal Equilistors. The rest of The Consortium filters in frowning and whispering amongst themselves. She scowls as she sees me with an underdressed Calihan.

"Leave us," My mother says to the group. The Equilistors at once usher everyone out before returning to her sides. She now addresses us. "What are you two doing here?"

"Testing the acoustics." Calihan responds.

My mother scowls and ignores Calihan. "Nova, you're missing your own banquet."

"I'm tired," I say as I awkwardly laugh. "I think I'll get Calihan back home and there's this painting I've been meaning to get for my collection-"

"I'll get Valentino and Valentina to drive you back." She says as she gestures to the two Equilistors and begs them to come closer. I close my eyes, bouncing on my feet and say, "No, no. I'd like to do this myself, drive around the city, take it in...you know, on my special day." Her eyes fan between Calihan and I with her brows slightly squeezed together. She waits a beat before saying, "...Ok, I'll get them to take Calihan then."

The Equilistors make their way down and I glance at Calihan. "It'll be ok Calihan, I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" He nods.

***

I stare at the ivory home. I frown as I notice Synthetics taking leisurely evening walks and I recheck the directions I given from the artists portfolio as the hover-car lands. The hover-car fans snowflakes up into the air and I wait for them to trickle back down. The door slides open and I make my way to the front door and knock. I prop the collar of my coat up and rub my leather gloves together as I wait in the cold. I can hear a faint voice through the door before the door slides across revealing a petite olive-skinned girl with brunette hair short, scuffed. She's wearing a simple black shirt, with a grey bed robe and black slacks with her brown marble eyes piercing mine. She gently frowns with her lips slightly un-pursed before turning them into a small smile.

"Nova."

"Jun."

She gestures me to come and offers to take my coat to which I oblige. I look around as she hangs my coat. Her house is as I expected. Albeit disturbingly small, it's warm, filled with family photos, ranging mainly of her parents and her as a child, no spouse or sibling photos. Marble white floors and wooden doors give the home an archaic feel which makes it feel like a hand down - a homestead passed on from generation to generation. Art fills the spaces, ranging from paintings to familiar 3D lifelike detached head sculptures, in between. However, these sculptures are skinless revealing robotic parts and give a more work in progress feel.

She takes in a deep breath and turns around. Her eyes rapidly blink before she says.

"I didn't know you were coming." She lets out an awkward laugh as she tries to adjust picture frames and dust off cabinets, "Are more people coming, or?"

"No, no. This is just an... informal visit." I wave her off as I take off my leather gloves and tuck them into my pocket.

"Oh," She nods as she rubs her palms together and I elaborate further.

"Seeing as it's my birthday-"

"Happy birthday by the way." She says and briefly touches my arm. Smiling, I say.

"Thank you...I just wanted to collect another one of your artworks for my collection."

She smiles and lets out a small chuckle before saying, "Of course, I would be honored. Please follow me, my work stations just up ahead. I have a few pieces I've recently completed-"

"I was actually hoping you did custom jobs?"

"Oh, yes I do...just give me 5 minutes to prepare my work area."

She turns into a passage way and I walk around looking at her old photos. I notice one of a little girl sitting in the lap of a laughing grey old man. I instinctively reach for my pocket and pull out the metal data sphere box. I open it and hold the data sphere between my index and thumb as I look at its quietly glowing exterior.