Gaia

Mari couldn't get the stars out of her head. When she closed her eyes, all she could see were stars. That night, which had started out the absolute worst, ended up being the best night of her life to that day. She was touched that despite everything, Eli had gone out of his way to make sure she had a good time. It was a sweet gesture, and even though he was cold on the outside, Mari always had a feeling he had it in him to be kind and warm.

She woke up with her alarm, but was so exhausted she decided to back to bed. Unfortunately, that damn hiding alarm didn't let her sleep. She reluctantly got dressed and showed up to work again, only to have Reuben inform her that Eli hadn't bothered to wake up, either. She huffed, setting her purse down on the coffee table and heading towards his bedroom.

"I wouldn't advise waking him, Miss Gold," Reuben told her.

"Why, is he grumpy in the mornings?" Mari asked.

"Quite."

"Good."

She wasn't quiet as she barged into his room, turning on the automatic lights as well as the window holograph of a bright morning sun. Eli groaned and pulled the sheets over his head, but Mari yanked them right off.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he mumbled into the pillow.

"If I have to wake up, so do you," she told him, plain and simple.

"You're indebted to me," he groaned. "You have to do as I say. Go away and let me sleep this headache off."

Mari huffed and kicked off her shoes, climbing up onto the bed and jumping up and down, making the whole thing shake. Eli's eyes shot open and he glared at her, sweeping an arm under her leg and knocking her over. She yelped and held down her skirt so no one saw anything they shouldn't, nearly falling off the bed.

"What's the thread count on these sheets?" she asked. "This is amazing."

"Go home, Mari," he said. "Come back later."

"I'm sorry, that's not how a job works," she told him, throwing herself back against the pillows. "Hey, this is awesome. You probably bring girls here all the time."

"I'm extremely disappointed to say that you're the first girl in my bed in a long, long time," he said. "Only, I'd appreciate if you got out of my bed."

"Nah, I'm too comfy now," she said. "Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to make a move on you or anything. You get enough of that. Also, you're holding me here against my will and that makes me somewhat less attracted to you."

"Pardon?"

"Well, normally I'd let a guy like you do me in the butt if he wanted to," Mari said. "But now I know you as a person and it's weird. Like maybe I'd still make out with you a little bit if I've been drinking, but that's it. Jeremiah is cool though. Is he single?"

"Change the subject, Marilyn."

"How come? You sensitive about it?"

"You have absolutely no filter," he told her. "You know that? No shame, whatsoever."

"People love that about me," she grinned.

"Yeah, okay," he said, rolling his eyes. "Sorry you had to deal with upper level brats, by the way."

"Yeah, I didn't think they got brattier than you, but I was proven wrong," she smirked.

"Had you ever been to a party like that before?"

"The highest floor party I went to was around Level 50 or 60," she said. "Pretty low, but it was a big deal for me. I met a guy who took me there."

"Oh yeah? How was that?"

"Emotionally traumatizing," she said, shaking her head. "See, I didn't always do the theft thing. I used to be a dancer. That's where I met the guy."

"A dancer?" Eli asked, lifting his head. "Mari, were you a stripper?"

"I was an exotic dancer at an adult lounge," she corrected.

"You were a stripper," he repeated.

"Make fun of it all you want," she told him. "It's funny until you realize how much I used to make in tips."

"If you say so."

"Anyways," she continued. "This guy came up to a friend an I after the show and invited us to come to this party with him, so we did. It was pretty sketchy, like most parties around there are. There's a lot of drugs in those levels. Hallucinogens, mostly. People were popping pills left and right, and when I refused, someone spiked my drink. Most of the night is blurry, but at some point, the guy I had gone to the party with went nuts. He was screaming and flailing, trying to get away from people holding him back and yelling stuff about going to a place with trees and a beach. He was positive that there was a real beach out there. He ended up jumping off the balcony. Splat. It took days to clean him up off the concrete. I went back to ground level the next day to go home, and his brains were still everywhere."

"I never heard of it," Eli frowned.

"Well, if you're really from the ground, you'll remember that there's only one or two suicide patrol bots monitoring the lower levels, for all the towers. Clearly, no one cares if we throw ourselves off a building. That's why there was no media coverage of it."

"So you've never had a good experience at a higher level party?"

"I'm an indoor girl," she shrugged. "I don't like to go out much, anyways."

"Damn. Rough life down there."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of silence, and Mari realized that Eli hadn't yelled at her to get out of his bed. He was wide awake now, but still refused to get out of bed. Eventually, he made Mari leave so he could change and shave, so she made herself at home and let Reuben cook her breakfast. For a bot that didn't eat, he sure knew how to cook. Mari held up a strawberry, running her thumb over the smooth, shiny surface. It was remarkable how lab-made fruits looked so fresh and natural. By the time they got down to ground level, they were slightly shriveled up.

Eli emerged from his room, running his fingers through his freshly washed hair and buttoning up his shirt. He eyed Mari's plate of eggs and bacon, somewhat disappointed that there wasn't a second plate available for him. Mari looked away, but Reuben looked directly at him with that polite smile locked on his face.

"Did you forget my breakfast, Reuben?" he asked.

"Good morning, sir," Reuben greeted with a slight bow. "I'm afraid there is no breakfast, because you 'are a lazy-ass who won't get out of bed' and because you 'don't deserve it' as much as Miss Gold does."

Mari coughed slightly and looked down at her feet, trying not to laugh as Eli glared at her. He pointed to Reuben, narrowing his eyes at the both of them.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," he said. "I'm fixing your programming later. And Mari, if you fuck with my bot again, you'll be sorry about it. You can't adjust what he learns without asking me."

"Yes, Sir Fuckwad, the stupidhead," Reuben said.

Mari couldn't hold back her laughter at that one. Eli glared at her and switched a button on the back of Reuben's neck, and the bot shuddered into sleep mode.

"Real mature," he mumbled.

"It's funny," Mari giggled.

"Yeah, for you, maybe," he said. "Now I have to call a technician and explain why 'Sir Fuckwad' is listed as my name in my bot's settings."

"That makes it even funnier."

"You're impossible," he sighed, pulling his jacket onto his shoulders. "Come on. We're going on a field trip today."

"Where are we going?" Mari asked, picking up her purse as she followed him out the door.

"Don't worry about it. Just follow me. And stop talking. I already have a bad enough headache."

Mari rolled her eyes, able to stay silent for a blissful few seconds before talking again.

"I've always wanted to try an organically grown strawberry," she said.

He turned and raised a brow at her, then shook his head and continued on his way.

"I don't think they exist anymore. Not even in a preservation chamber."

"Did you know that an organic strawberry has seeds? TONS of seeds," Mari told him. "It's not flat and smooth like the ones we have. I imagine it tastes less sweet, too. Ours is so sweet, it's like pure sugar candy."

"You're just full of fun facts, aren't you?" Eli sighed.

"I sure am."

"Well I'm not having fun. So shut up and keep walking."