"Astrid? Astrid, wake up." Celeste's voice sounded muffled, almost far away before it snapped into focus, suddenly angry. "Back off dude, it was an accident okay? Just let me get her up."

My eyes popped open and darted around—searching for the man in the striped shirt. The sight that greeted me was an up-the-nostril view of Celeste and a man, who I presume was the green kiosk owner, arguing.

The man glanced down at me and his nostrils flared a little. "She's awake. Now get her out of here. You're putting off my customers."

Celeste caught my gaze and crouched beside me. "Thanks for your concern," she muttered at his back with a roll of her eyes. She clasped my hand in hers, grabbing my elbow as she pulled me to my feet. The world spun and I fell into her. She stumbled sideways, teetering on her platform shoes while her grip on my elbow tightened. My head was pounding and my stomach roiled with the newfound dizziness, the coloured glass of the surrounding kiosks blurred into a swimming rainbow.

"Our stalker?" I mumbled, closing my eyes and letting Celeste lead me where she needed to.

"Some guy tripped him up just as you had your little incident. He disappeared after that." Her candy coloured hair whipped me in the face as she glanced over her shoulder. "God Astrid, I heard your head crack when you hit the tiles. You okay?"

That would explain the exploding nerve endings at the back of my skull. I sucked in a breath through my nose and grimaced. "You got a pain patch?"

She towed me to a bench beside another kiosk and lowered me onto it. The shopkeeper eyed us warily through the purple glass of the walls, but didn't say anything.

"Here." Celeste pulled a green gel patch from her bag and waved it under my nose. I blinked at it, a little dazed, then opened it and slapped it onto my neck.

The relief came in seconds, the thumping rave in my brain dulled and I could think straight again. "Thanks," I managed, getting shakily to my feet again.

Celeste blew out a breath, giving me a thin smile that faded quickly. "What the hell was that?"

I started to shake my head, then stopped abruptly, wincing. "I'm not sure, but definitely not paranoia."

She offered an arm of support and led the way to the elevators, her eyes darting nervously over the crowds. "Definitely not."

The bright humid streets of the Australian Territory slipped into the drizzly grey of the rain laden Central Territories. I stared out of the water-streaked bullet window and winced as I tenderly probed the bump that had formed on the back of my head. A jittery nausea ate away at my stomach as I tried not to dwell too much on what had happened. I had always known safety on the Ark to be dubious, I kept a small taser in my bag for that very reason, but never before had I felt quite so... targeted.

Celeste had hugged me goodbye at one of the Eastern stations, making me swear to message her the second I got to Dad's. She'd seemed a bit shaken, but not overly perturbed by the whole thing. I don't think she had taken the incident as personally as I had—and she definitely hadn't been put off enough to cancel plans for the double date tomorrow night. So, unfortunately, that was still on.

The carriage swayed as the bullet slowed to dock at a station right on the business district border of the Central Territory. I kept pace with the alighting crowd, letting the exiting group part the hordes of people on the platforms. The cloudy skies had brought nightfall early and the station was lit by ornate fixtures in the plexiglass ceiling.

Dad lived as close as you could get to the CBD without being in it. It was an expensive area, but his work was more than happy to pay the extra living allowances if it meant having their most senior programmer close by.

I shouldered through the well-dressed crowds and stepped out into the downpour that hung like a curtain outside the station's exit. Umbrella's bloomed around me, tiny streams of water and stray droplets casting patterns in the light on their tight plastic sides. While their prongs brought me closer than I would like to losing an eye.

I hurried along through the rain, catching sight of the imposing buildings of Dad's estate in the distance. It felt like ages since I'd been there last. Dad had postponed a month's worth of my usual weekend visits while he worked extra hours on some huge system upgrade.

It was the longest I'd gone without seeing him and though I probably had the right to feel pissed about it—I couldn't find it in me.

What Dad did was important. ZenTech practically ran the entire Ark, which meant Dad's programming was woven through the day to day of each and every citizen on the continent. His coding drove people to work, it ran bullets, hospitals, academies and homes—even cooking family meals each night. The tiniest bug in the system could prove catastrophic—and Dad was the one to ensure no such disasters ever came to pass.

So, when Dad shirked his parental duties for weeks on end, I tried not to take it personally. It wasn't a case of him choosing work over me—it was him putting The Ark, and everyone on it, above everything.

Even family. Even me.

My boots shattered the neon reflections of advertisements in puddles as I trudged on dizzily. I couldn't be sure if the spinning in my head was from my probable concussion, or nauseating hunger. The smell of street food had grown thick in the wet air, making my stomach sick and hollow—save a few nerves still jangling about in there.

Dad's estate would have been one of the most secure estates in the central territory. Half a dozen black and silver high rises clustered together in the rain, their tinted windows not giving away any light to indicate if their occupants were home. By the time I reached the concrete and steel fence, my hood had lost its fight against the persistent fall of rain and water trickled through my hair and down my back.

I scanned my thumb at the entry gate and entered my pin. It buzzed, letting me through to the second gate where I entered yet another pin—there was no getting into the place quickly. The door to the lobby required a full hand scan, followed by voice activation for the lift. Dad's apartment was protected with a retinal scanner on the door, and lastly, a full bioscanner in his entry-way.

I traversed the stages of security, leaving an incriminating trail of drips behind me. I watched Dad through the transparent wall of his entryway while the bioscanner did its thing. He was caught up in an MR call, his conversation inaudible to me until the glass door between us unlocked and the air seal broke with a pop.

"There's got to be a better way. All I'm asking is that you slow down and find it. Don't make me force this, because I can—and I will if I have to." He paced around the kitchen, a foreign threatening undercurrent in his tone. Who was he talking to?

I took a step closer, straining my ears and eyes, trying to get a sense for who could be on the other end of the call. As I crept forward, a vacbot zipped by underfoot and I stood on it, losing my balance as it kept moving. I crashed down hard on my ass, clumsily announcing my presence.

"I have to go," Dad said, whipping around in my direction. "Think about what I've said." He ended the call and blinked hard a couple of times. Then set his gaze on me.

"Astrid honey, are you okay?" He rushed over to help me to my feet, pulling me into a hug without a care about how soaked I was.

"I'm alright," I replied into his shoulder. "Just, uh, slipped."

He held me back at arm's length and looked to the floor. "It's no wonder, you're soaked."

"It's raining," I stated the obvious.

"I know." He chuckled, straightening. "Don't you have an umbrella?"

"Ah." I shrugged.

"Ah indeed." Amused lines crinkled at the corners of his green-brown eyes and I was delighted that he never got them filled the way Mum did. "I think there's a spare here somewhere." He looked around the messy flat. If there was one, I was sure not to find it. Dad's place was the complete opposite to Mum's meticulous apartment.

"It's fine, thanks." I made my way to the black on black kitchen and wrung my hair into the sink. "How are you? How's work?"

His expression tightened a little, his mouth drawing into a line momentarily before he met my gaze and it softened. "I'm fine, just glad to see you."

Guilt and happiness swelled in my chest at hearing how genuine he sounded. This was exactly the kind of thing that made it impossible to be mad at Dad for our long periods apart. "I'm happy to see you too," I replied with a smile.

"How was academy today?"

I glanced at the wet ends of my hair as I wrung it into the sink. "Fine," I lied, "just the usual."

"Good." He put an affectionate hand on my shoulder and squeezed. Looking at him properly, I realised what poor state he was in. Perhaps things were not so great at work. There were bags under his eyes that made it look as though he hadn't slept in forever. His clothes were crumpled and untucked, his tie was still dangling undone around his neck, but perhaps the most striking of all was his lack of shoes.

"Where are your shoes?" I asked, staring at his damp socks.

He looked at his feet with vague recollection and laughed. "Oh yes, there was a gentleman at the station who was sleeping rough. He was wearing carrier bags on his feet, and I figured—" He stopped mid-sentence and peeled off the wet socks. "I hadn't realised these were so damp!"

I shook my head and laughed. "And here's you asking me where my umbrella was! You must have been pretty distracted with your calls."

He balled the socks in his hand and his smile faded. "I suppose I was."

My eyes drifted to the delivery menu scrolling down the fridge and the hollow feeling in my stomach returned. "What's for dinner?"

"Ah, that's what I meant to tell you."

I eyed him suspiciously. "You haven't been living off those meal replacement pills again have you? They may get you by when you're busy and don't have time—but studies now show that the process of eating a meal is good for your mental health!"

"Astrid, Astrid." He raised his hands to stop my rant. "I only have those on really busy days."

"Which is practically everyda—" I protested, but he cut me off, raising his hands again.

"That's not what I was going to tell you." He took a deep breath and began again. "There's a gala tonight." He rubbed his neck. "ZenBrand have an announcement to make. All the territory representatives will be there and our prominent shareholders. It's kind of expected that I go."

I groaned. Ditched again.

"I asked a stylist to pick out a few things for you," Dad said tentatively, "I thought you might want to be my plus-one for tonight?"

The glare I was giving him softened. "You want me to go with you?"

He shrugged and looked down at his bare feet. "It won't exactly be a fun night out, but at least we could spend a bit of time together. If you don't want to though, it's completely fine."

I smiled. "Of course, I'll go with you Dad."

He returned my smile. "Better get dry then, the car will be here in an hour."