Gaia

"Is the breach situation on the Ground taken care of?"

Eli glanced up from the computer he was working on to find Renee leaning in the doorway, tapping the heel of her black boot against the floor.

"It's been resolved," he replied.

"I didn't notice any new reports," she said, a tiny frown forming on her face. "Did Townsend decide to hold them here for a while?"

"Townsend left it to me to decide what should be done, and I've done it. It will no longer be a problem."

Renee sighed. "Eli, sometimes I can't help but feel you're too kind for this line of work. You can't spare the rod when it comes to-"

"The last time I checked, I am the Head of Security here, not you," Eli interrupted in a clipped voice. "And I assure you that my methods are far from kind."

Renee pouted, her ruby lips turning down slightly at the corners. "Of course. I'm very sorry, Eli. I was out of line."

"Yes, you were. Now is there anything else, Enforcer Perona? I have quite a bit of work to do."

"No, that will be all," Renee sighed. She turned to leave but then paused, glancing over her shoulder. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Ella Stellar is supposed to be visiting our humble tower in about two weeks. So we're on party patrol."

Eli grimaced. "Dammit. I hate having to dress up while I do my job." He hated parties in general, really. He could live with the plain suits he generally wore, though he preferred the black uniform he had worn before being promoted. But tuxedos were just too much. Renee smiled impishly.

"It's not so bad," she said. "I think you clean up pretty nice, Beckstrom." She winked before vanishing out the door, closing it behind her. Eli sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He decided he'd best go check on Mari, and see what kind of mischief she was getting into now. He made his way from the security mainframe back to his office, rolling his eyes when he found Mari sitting on the floor surrounded by a stack of files and one of the vodka bottles from his desk drawer. She was munching happily on something until she spotted him standing there glowering at her and quickly tried to hide the bag of whatever she was holding behind her back.

"You know I'm looking right at you, right?" Eli asked. "I can see exactly what you're up to."

"Um. This stuff was open when I got here," she said.

"Dear god, you're a terrible liar. And you can't even be left unattended for fifteen minutes without getting sidetracked. No wonder you had to resort to thievery to survive."

"Hey you've been gone way longer than fifteen minutes," she protested.

"Yet I'm sure it took you even less time than that to get distracted and start rummaging in my things." He sighed again.

"Why do you have all of these bottles in here, anyway? They're all unopened."

"I don't drink much."

"Well then see, they were going to waste."

She gave him a bright smile but he just stared stonily back.

"Finish filing before you get so wasted you can't see straight," he ordered, snatching the bottle away from her. She pouted but picked up her file folders. Eli noticed that her pout didn't look nearly as rehearsed and staged as Renee's did.

"Can't you at least give me some real work to do?" she muttered.

"Prove you can handle this one simple task and we'll see." Eli sat down at his desk, returning the vodka to the drawer. "I guess I need to stay here and supervise," he added with a grumble. Mari made a face but miraculously didn't protest. She shuffled the stacks of folders he'd given her and resumed organizing them. Eli contacted other departments in the tower to get the details on Ella Stellar's upcoming performance.

"Ella Stellar is coming here?" Mari asked, peering over his shoulder. Eli shot her an annoyed look.

"Don't snoop," he said. Mari dropped a stack of folders on his desk.

"But I'm done. So, is she really coming here?"

"Yes. She's doing a show and then there's going to be an after party, so a security team has to be present in addition to her own personal body guards."

"That's so cool." Mari bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. "Have you met her before?"

"Yes."

"What's she like?"

"Vain."

"Well she is like the biggest music star in the world."

Eli shrugged. "Put the files in the filing cabinet, please."

"Do you just have a thing for old fashioned junk?" Mari asked him. "I mean who uses stuff like folders and filing cabinets anymore? I didn't even think they still existed."

"My dad had a fascination with all things pre-end of the world," Eli said without thinking. Mari paused and looked at him and he wished he hadn't said anything. He didn't generally give anyone details of his past. Outside of Lord Townsend and a few of his closest associates, no one even knew Eli was from the Ground.

"Is that why your parents didn't have your eyes modified?" Mari asked curiously. Eli scowled.

"Not that there's anything wrong with them," Mari added. "Just it's unusual for people who have access to mods to not utilize them."

"Well my parents never had a lot of interest in mods."

Mari finished filing in silence, a feat he had been starting to think her incapable of. When she finished she closed the drawer and leaned against it.

"So, are you going to give me a real job to do?"

"I'll consider it."

Mari huffed. "Butthead," she muttered. Eli almost smiled.



He comm came in that evening while he was reading in his study. He heard the pinging noise and opened the drawer to find his holograph caller lit up. He was already smiling as he answered.

"Gracie," he said warmly. His little sister's image shimmered into view before him, her baby blue eyes crinkling as she smiled at him. Her blond hair was several shades paler than Eli's, almost platinum instead of burnished gold. She was stunningly beautiful, even in holograph form.

"Eli, you haven't visited me in a long time," she pouted. "I'm bored."

"You have essentially every bit of new age tech known to man and you're bored." He chuckled.

"But it's not the same as human interaction," she insisted. "I know you're very busy, Mr. Important, but you don't even have time for your baby sister anymore?"

"Oh, stop that. I'll always have time for you. I'll come visit you in the next couple of days, okay? Ella Stellar is coming here again and we have preparations to make but they can handle it without me for a day."

Gracie clapped her hands. "It'll be so great I'll have the droids make all your favorite food and maybe we can go visit the greenhouses and-"

"Yes, yes we'll do all of that," Eli laughed.

"I can't wait to see you, Eli. I've missed you."

"I miss you, too, kid."

"I'm not a kid anymore." She made a face.

"You're twenty. Technically a kid."

"God, big brothers are insufferable. Okay, I'll see you soon, then?"

"Two days at the latest," he promised. He picked up the holograph caller and carried it with him to the front room. "What do you want to do first? Greenhouses, the virtual reality games, the-ah!" Eli skidded to a halt as he entered the living room and found Mari sitting in the couch in a tank top and a pair of sweats, munching happily on some popcorn.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" he demanded.

"Who's that?" Gracie asked. "Turn me around so I can see."

"No."

"Eli!"

Sighing, he turned the caller around so Gracie could see the front room.

"Reuben let me in," Mari said. She and Gracie eyed each other curiously.

"Hi," Gracie said. "Who are you?"

"Mari. I'm Eli's new personal assistant," she replied, flashing air quotes around the words personal assistant. Gracie cocked her head.

"A personal assistant? Eli doesn't usually-"

"Gracie, do you mind? I have an intruder to deal with. You really are a damn raccoon."

Mari stuck her tongue out while Gracie chided him for being rude.

"Gracie, I'll see you in two days. I have to go now."

"Oh fine. Always leave me out of the drama," she grumbled. "Love you."

"Love you too." Eli clicked the holograph caller off and glared at Mari. She seemed unfazed.

"Who was that?" she asked. "She was really pretty. Is that your girlfriend?"

Eli made a face. "God, no." He hesitated. "She's my sister."

"Really? Wow. She seems a lot nicer than you."

"What are you doing in my house?"

"I was bored and didn't like being in that little apartment all by myself. So Reuben let me in. Want some popcorn?"

Eli sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This girl was going to be the death of him.