ETHAN

Perfection.

Nothing less.

He dodged out of the view of the training simulation units as they patrolled between holographic corridors. He ducked. Weaved. All to avoid the sight of trouble and get to the goal. He dipped into the shadows when one of the units beeped into alert mode when he skidded on the floor. He scowled at the spot, but relaxed when the training Modi purred back into unawareness and continued on its route.

Nothing less than perfect.

Ethan bounced along the hidden spots, sneaking his way out of the sensors and through the course in the home gym. He climbed over railings to get to his end goal to perfection. He hopped over one Modi, sliding down the ramp. Embers lit a fire underneath his legs as one Modi rolled around the bend with a curious chirp. It blazed red when it caught the edge of his feet, and he rolled out of the spotlight as it rushed to where he was moments before. He fumbled to hide underneath one of the training platforms as the Modi continued on the route, and he slid out of his hiding spot and rushed to the end. He dodged. He rolled. He hopped, climbed, and ran.

He hopped to the end console, tapping it to stop his time.

All the Modi's dissipated into pixels. He raked his hands to pull the strands of hair off his brow, checking his record one last time, for perfection.

A minute and thirty ticks.

Not enough.

Not good enough.

Ethan gripped the sides of the panel.

'Nothing less, Ethanius, you're my son,' their dad reminded him.

He released it from his grip and breathed in deep before glancing over his wristpad. Keren and Mother should be home soon.

One more breath, and he shut off the power in the gym before cleaning at the washing station. Fresh from his training session, he left behind the imperfection to check on dinner. It simmered within several of the pots as he adjusted the temperatures.

Everything in its proper place, he placed the cutlery on the table near the window, where evening light shone rays into their house of deep shadows. He tapped open his compearl menu when Jesti sent him a message.

'Here's what you missed in class, Ethan. All attached at the end, your absence was noted,' Jesti texted, and Ethan bit down at the words.

Imperfect.

Jesti added, 'Family is more important, though,' with a smile at the end. 'See you later.'

Ethan lifted his head from reading the class documents as Chalen's car rolled into the driveway. He threw it into his bag, shuffling it out of the way as the car came to a slow stop, with Chalen leaving the driver's side to go open Mother's door. Ethan twisted the dial on the stove, where the temperature ticked down from solar fire to cold space. He smiled when Keren leaped out of the car, and was the first to enter the house.

"Ethan!" Keren raced to the island counter, and Ethan stopped him from dumping the contents of his bag all over it. "I ate all of my lunch."

"Good, but don't make a mess, I do need to do the cleaning," Ethan said, nudging Keren out of the kitchen, though it never deterred his little brother as he shuffled through his bag. Two different footsteps echoed off the front steps. Chalen's hard boots, and Mother's lighter, cautious shoes. Ethan turned around as the two entered, and he tried to keep his smile blank and emotionless

Never show your full hand.

"Mother," he said and drifted to her as her gaze settled on him. "I made dinner for tonight."

Mom switched her attention to the counter, but it was a slow, agonizing crawl back to him. Something wilted in her green eyes as she sighed deep, but not full of relief of a burden taken away, but of something added. "Ethanius, I got a call from your Quad teacher that you skipped multiple classes today... again."

Ethan glanced at Chalen, who avoided his gaze and shuffled around the kitchen. "Ethanius—"

"Father's upstairs," Ethanius answered, but never took his attention off the problem. He waited for Chalen's footsteps to disappear before inching from Mother to prepare the plates, while Keren tried to stretch around him. He placed a hand on Keren's brow, giving him a slight push of patience. "Didn't see any reason to stay in class today." He gave Keren his plate first, tapping him on the back to give him an escape from the conversation. "It's not like my grades are struggling — and I told Dad this."

Mother frowned. "It's not your grades I'm worried about, Ethanius," she whispered, her Tersilian forced out through her teeth.

Ethan dug his fingers into the countertop, readying three plates for food. "Then I don't see why you're worried, Mom. I came right home, started dinner so we weren't eating well into the next day. Father's busy and..." He tipped his head to the side, observing Keren as he put his plate at his regular seat, but didn't sit down, hugging his school bag close to his chest.

"I just had to pick up Keren—"

"It doesn't matter," Ethan warned before setting a plate aside for her next. "Family comes first."

Mother's hardened expression died into despair as she came closer, and Ethan stiffened and waited for the break of energy. "You're so intelligent, Ethanius. You shouldn't waste it. I know I can't control what it is you do." One more step closer, and she added, "But Keren looks up to you — parrots you. You know what he said to me on the way here?"

"What?" Ethan questioned.

"He said you told him that you were old enough to make your own choices — that he wants to make his own too and when he gets your age, he wants to start doing what you do," Mother pointed out. "Ethanius, the choices you make are yours, but don't forget who you have around you. Keren is twelve quadrums old... that is not something he should be hearing from you. Whatever you say or do, he's going to echo."

"I wonder why," Ethan said, biting down his own breaking energy within his soul. He flicked his gaze back to Keren who side-eyed them both, his fingers digging into his backpack as he twisted away to avoid the confrontation, and Ethan switched his attention back to Mother. "It's dinner. Now's not the time to have this conversation." He handed her a plate, and it trembled in her hands as she pursed her lips and shuffled to the dinner table.

Ethan clung onto the counter while Keren and Mom sat down. He breathed deep, and then grabbed food for himself and Father. He frowned when Keren spoke, "Are you going to eat with us?"

It frizzled in his ears as he leaned over the pot, where the spicy sweetness swallowed the metallic rust driving through his nose. He exhaled through his nose to push it out, and he looked at Keren, then Mom, who studied him with a deepening frown.

"I think I'm just going to eat in my room. I have classwork to do. I hope you enjoy the food," he forced out and grabbed two plates. Silence echoed across his own footsteps as he headed for the staircase. Ahead, at the end, Father's office, where two deep voices went back and forth. He hesitated on the last step, glancing back at the light in the kitchen and living room before continuing on.

Both voices fell quiet when he came closer to the cracked open door.

"Come in," Father said after momentary silence.

Ethan pushed open the door with his leg, steadying the trembling plates with his hands. Neither of the two men spoke as he shuffled over to Father's desk to put the plate down in front of him. "Dinner," he forced the stone out of his throat while Father set his chin on his fingers. "Chalen, there's extra for you too as our guest."

"I'll go grab some once I'm done here, son," Chalen said with a slight wave of his hand.

Ethanius swallowed the stone back into his soul before heading for the door with his plate.

"Your hands are shaking, Ethanius."

He froze, nose to nose with the wood before facing Father.

"Is something on your mind?"

He hid the ace in his sleeve. "Why?"

"You said you wanted us to talk more," Father pointed out.

Ethan held on tight to his plate of food and lodged the stone of lies to block the truth in his lungs. "No, nothing's on my mind. I'm just starving. I didn't get to eat lunch today."

Both men studied him. Father eyed Chalen, who avoided his gaze in one quick instant. Father puffed out a breath, then said, "Close the door and sit down, Ethanius."

He closed the door and sat down with Chalen. Ethan gave Father's Associate a side-eye, wondering if the rock inside Chalen would break under pressure. He sucked in his lips, and ate his food in silence, never to speak unless spoken to, but neither of them said words as he chewed.

"You can speak freely, Chalen," Father shattered the silence.

Chalen eyed him. "You're certain, Boss?"

Ethan lifted his head from his plate, and the trembling in his fingers froze into ice.

"I'm certain. I trust my son," Father said.

Ethan bit down hard on his fork to stop the rock from slipping over his tongue. Chalen sighed beside him. "I understand. We cleared those tunnels underneath the casino. I know you told Joz you wanted clearer access to our other location deeper in Roxton, but the Azaka's protection racket over on the east side will make it harder for us to move things without interception."

"I see, but they haven't tried to encroach on our turf?" Father asked.

"No, and the casino is working as intended."

Father set a hand on his desk, then eyed him. "Let's put that conversation to the side for now, then. Ethanius?" Ethan set his plate in his lap and stared at the door as Father continued, "Look at me when I talk to you."

Ethan looked at him. "Yes?"

"I want to know what's on your mind, and don't lie to me."

Acid burned into his throat as Father considered him. Stone cracked, and he leaned on the couch to ready the words. "I'm thinking about dropping out of my quad."

Beside him, Chalen jolted. "Aren't you almost finished, Ethan? You should be focusing on your education. You're a sharp kid—"

"Hold, Chalen. Let my son speak," Father said, before motioning for Ethan. "What makes you wish to do that?"

"You told me family comes first," Ethan explained. "I'm simply taking your words to heart. I'd like to focus on that instead of having to juggle classwork on top of everything else. I can't do both, and I know you have stuff for me to do." He folded his arms and faced Chalen. "Better to focus, is it not?"

Chalen rubbed the back of his head. "I understand that, Ethan, but—"

"Chalen."

He fell silent at Father's command.

Ethan waited while Father searched his datapad. "Have you also told your mother what you wish to do?"

Ethan swallowed the stone into his acidic stomach. "No."

Father closed his eyes. "I shall think about it." He lifted his head when his compearl beeped. "Chalen, you're dismissed. Tell Joz I need to talk to him. Ethanius, we'll talk later."

Ethan stood with Chalen and rushed out of the office, a different shake entering his hands while Chalen went downstairs without another word. He raced for his room, but came to a stop at a small shadow in the corner of his eye.

Keren peeked around his doorframe.

"Keren?" he whispered and drew father from Father's office. "I thought you'd still be downstairs eating dinner with Mother."

Keren stared up at him, and Ethan knelt down to his level. "Did I get you in trouble?"

"No? And that doesn't answer my question."

Keren hugged himself. "After you left, Mom got sad... we did eat, but then she finished and just went to her room." He pointed down the corridor to Mother's closed door. "I'm sorry if I got you in trouble..."

"You didn't get me in trouble," Ethan repeated before patting his head. "If you're still hungry, we can have seconds. I made more than enough."

Keren shook his head and drifted back into his room without another word. He straightened himself out as Keren searched through his old toybox to grab a beat up model ship to wave it in the air with slow motions as he sat down on the floor with a deep sigh.

"Keren."

Keren glanced at him with wide, watery greens.

"You're fine," Ethan said, before closing the door for Keren. He drifted past Mother's soundless room. Down the steps, he frowned at Mother's half-eaten plate. He tossed his into the dishwasher before fiddling with the mixer for a drink. He paced around the kitchen island, where a thousand eyes trickled down his spine while it clicked down for a finish. It poured and dripped into the cup with the countdown. Every last drop echoed throughout his stone soul as he placed it beside the half-eaten plate of food, taking them both to Mother's room.

He opened the door with his shoulder, and he stopped on the edge when Mother's gaze switched to him from her rocking seat by the window.

"You should finish this," Ethan said as he rounded her bed. "Here. I made you some tea." He placed both on the cabinet near her.

"You didn't have to, Ethan," she said dully.

Ethan clasped his hands together as she lifted herself out of the rocking chair. He bit on his tongue at the soft memory, nothing more than a hazy field of view as someone hummed in his ear with gentle meaning, until it cracked with tears. Mother faced him, and Ethan tipped forward. "Try and finish it."

He went to leave, but a different prickling sensation rolled down his spine as she wrapped her arms around him, brushing her hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry for what this is doing to you," she echoed Keren with her own tears. "I just want what's best for you, Ethan. I don't want you to become..."

Become what? You already think I'm a monster. Nothing I can do there.

Pebbles lodged in his throat as he stood there while she clung onto him before holding his face in her hands. "I don't want anything to happen to you," she rasped. "To either of you."

I'm sorry, she sobbed through the past. I'm sorry, you deserved so much better than what I've given you.

Ethan raised his hands to her forearms. "You should drink your tea and relax, Ma. I'll make sure Keren gets to bed."

Mother's voice hummed with gentleness, Father's voice full of chills and consistency. Ethan pulled himself away from Mother as he left her to her tears once again, unable to do anything to change the hand he was dealt.