Inside my new room, it's barer than bare.

The walls are grey, the bed is grey, and the floor is grey, too. Another mysterious cubicle sits in the corner of the room, and a door leads to the washroom, but besides that the room is as sparse as I've ever seen one.

My suitcase hasn't been brought up yet, and the only interesting part of the room is the large window that takes up a good portion of the wall in front of me that has a fantastic view overlooking the criss-crossing roads and incredibly tall buildings of the Inner Ring.

I sigh and flop down onto the bed, glad to have some time to myself. The bed itself is a larger size than I'm used to, and comfortable. I roll over, content for the moment. Maybe I should take a nap...

The door slides open. Anden comes through, my suitcase in hand, and sets it down on the floor.

"Is everything okay?" I ask. "What took you so long?"

Anden leans against the wall and shrugs. "That man down there gave me a lecture on proximity."

"Proximity? What do you mean?"

"He thought it was his job to tell me that it's not my place to touch you." He rolls his eyes. "He's a little scrawny maid, and it's not up to him to decide what my place is."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

Anden shakes his head. "I solved it, don't worry." He moves away from the wall and looks around. "You didn't activate the DecoHolo? Do you like the room as it is?"

"DecoHolo?"

He moves towards the door and presses on a panel there. A pleasant-sounding female voice reverberates throughout the room and an interface appears on the panel.

"Hello and good morning to you! Please choose a DecoHolo or create your own!"

Anden swipes through a few designs and picks one at random. The room ripples and changes before my eyes: now the walls are a garish pink colour, and the bedding underneath my body is a bright neon green. Random posters have appeared on the walls and a fluffy white rug is on the floor, which has gone from grey to dark faux-wood paneling.

"Not so fond of this one?" Anden asks. "Want another?" He swipes through a few more designs. The dark paneling on the floor becomes almost white and the walls turn sky blue. I look down at the bedding- it's a soft cream colour.

"Better?"

I laugh. "Yeah, way better."

"When you get more furniture, it'll project holograms onto your couches, your desks, whatever."

"Alright," I say, snuggling with my pillows. "Now this is luxury."

"Would you like me to unpack for you?"

I shake my head. "No, that's fine, Anden. You're not actually my servant."

The panel by the door emits a hologram. It's of Kaelan, who's waiting outside the door with a tray of food.

"Give a voice command." Anden prompts.

I blink. "Come in?"

The door slides open and Kaelan comes through. He brushes past Anden (who seems to bristle at the contact) and places the tray on the bed near my feet.

"Would you like anything else, Miss?"

I sit up. "No, that's fine. Thank you."

Kaelan bows his head and leaves, the door sliding shut behind him. Anden looks relieved at his exit.

I examine what's on the tray: there's a small plate of rolls, a glass of chilled water, and another, larger plate of what appears to be dried maggots drenched in a purple sauce. I raise an eyebrow at it- the Elites eat insects too? I'd expected expensive animal meats, like beef or pork.

Beside the larger plate is a shiny silver fork. I learned to eat with utensils ages ago from Ceres, so this will be easy for me. I inhale the aroma of the food; it all coalesces into something that makes my mouth water. I pick up some of the maggots from the larger plate with my fork and put it in my mouth, chewing on it slowly. To my surprise, what I'd thought to be maggots aren't maggots at all- it seems to be some type of grain. The sauce is sweet and odd-tasting, but together they taste wonderful. I take one of the rolls and pile the grain-sauce mixture atop it and shove it into my waiting mouth.

"Want one, Anden?"

He gives a passing glance at the tray of food, and shakes his head.

"Suit yourself, then." I say, and begin shovelling food into my mouth at an alarming pace. I wash it all down with the water and stand, brushing off my clothing.

"Don't wear that. Go through that door, there." He points at the only other door in the room. "That's your washroom. There should be a panel there that'll produce clothing for you. I'll get the car started."

"Okay."

I go towards the door. It slides open, revealing a washroom that matches the DecoHolo of the bedroom. I look around for the panel Anden was talking about, but I don't have to look very much, because the panel alerts me of its presence almost instantly.

"Good morning, Miss Sullivan. What clothing will you need for today?"

I turn around, startled. The panel is tiny but still visible. It projects a hologram of me as I am. I look closely at it and see the small camera lens there.

"Miss Sullivan?" It prompts.

I bite my lower lip. "School clothes."

"The Academy Uniform?"

"Yeah, let's go with that."

The hologram changes. My clothes are different there. I wear a white blazer with blue accents and a blue armband. On my lower half, I wear a matching skirt, cut a few inches above my knees and on my feet, a pair of white heels.

The panel begins to open, gaping strangely like a mouth, and it spits out the garments in the hologram as well as the shoes. I catch them in my hands, laughing in delight, as the panel returns to its original appearance again. I undress and put on my new clothing. The hologram shows me as I am now, the clothing warm against my skin and smelling divine, as if it was freshly laundered or even just made.

I slip on the heels and step out. They're not too high, so I don't have much trouble walking in them, and I leave my bedroom and go downstairs, where I hear low voices.

Robert, legs crossed elegantly, sits on the couch. A tall, bulky man stands across from him.

"-wasn't informed by the Chancellor that this would be happening."

I descend the last step and begin to walk towards the door to get into the car with Anden.

"Cassandra, stop, dear- you have a ride today."

I glance at the man standing in front of Robert, who looks back at me with icy eyes. "From him?" I ask.

"Well, not technically. You'll see," he says, and turns once more to the man. "And please notify me next time, at least a few hours in advance. This is a matter that concerns my daughter, and at the Chancellor's behest or not-"

"It wasn't the Chancellor that arranged this, Senator Sullivan. It was Master Neo."

Neo? I stride quickly towards the front door (Kaelan opens it graciously for me) and down the path. There's a heavily armoured car there, luxurious but clearly meant for protecting someone important. Anden stands beside his car, eyes narrowed at the sight. A man emerges from the driver's side and crosses over to the passenger door and opens it, stepping away to make room for the person getting out.

I see his white-blond hair first. It's longer than most men's hair, just past the nape of his neck, and a bit messy; he steps out from behind the door, immaculate and striking, his blue eyes piercing straight through me.

"Sorry about the short notice, Cassandra," he says, his voice even and strangely monotone. "But I wanted to meet you very, very badly."

He smiles a small, odd smile at me, like it's not something he does often. I find myself smiling back. He comes up to me, at least four inches above my own towering height, all angular features and fairness. He extends a pale, unblemished hand.

I look into his eyes, peering up at him with my breath catching in my throat. That hologram didn't do him justice.

"Hello. I'm Neo Rook."