"This is the best my people have eaten in years," Major said, leaning back in his chair with the satisfaction of a man who had just delivered something significant. He said it lightly but the weight underneath it was real.

"I get it," I said.

"That big one eats like me." He pointed at Oddo, who had already cleared his plate and was looking at the empty bowl like it had personally wronged him.

I lifted my own bowl and drank the last of the soup directly. Across the table, the girls were still eating at a more leisurely pace. May had somehow turned simple bread and beans into an elegant experience. Harmione and Sherry were deep in quiet conversation between bites.

"Don’t you have government out here?" Sinn asked.

Major’s expression shifted. Just slightly. The specific shift of someone who has heard a word used wrong and is deciding whether to correct it.

"What do you mean out here?" he asked.

Sinn was still speaking the language of the walls without knowing it. Outside, inside, the government, all of it mapped to a world that ended at the life layer.

"He means out here," I said. "Goth is enclosed too. He’s asking who runs things on this side."

Major laughed, the sound rich and genuine. "Gotcha. Good question. I’m the government out here."

"Who do you work with?" Sinn pressed.

"No one," Major said. "I die, the government dies."

Something passed between Sinn and Code. Fast. A look, the kind that carries instructions rather than conversation. I caught it before either of them knew I had.

What are you two planning?

Major was loud about his authority but the people in this building loved him. That wasn’t performance. The way Jenn had said *he’s like a father to me* without hesitation.

The way two hundred people had come out of the buildings when he raised his hand. You didn’t manufacture that in a forsaken city.

Sherry stood.

"Back in a minute," she said quietly, and walked toward the exit, disappearing through Major’s men who were deep in whatever game they were running on the far side of the room.

"Abram of Goth," Major said, pulling my attention back as he clapped a hand on my shoulder. "We were actually waiting on another truck. Had word it was coming through sometime today or tomorrow." He smiled. "But I’ve ended up with a better deal. A new friend."

"How do you get information?" Sinn asked, reaching for the part I had skipped over.

"Shhm." Major hushed him without looking at him. "I’m talking to Abram."

Mercury laughed. Major joined her, the specific laugh of someone who had found their frequency with another person in under an hour and was comfortable there.

"Anyway," Major continued, turning back to me, "we have people in other cities. Family members we’ve taken in. They report back. We have comms. We stay informed." He let that sink in, then stood. "I think you’re all good people. Abram, I need a word with you."

"Okay," I said, rising.

Sherry returned at that exact moment, moving through the crowd with perfect timing. She pressed a small bag into my hands.

"Got it," she whispered.

"Thank you." I squeezed her hand. "Let me find Major first."

She held on for a second longer. "Make sure you convince him. Sinn’s approach might be... different from yours."

That said everything about what had happened in the executive room before I arrived. Whatever conversation they’d had up there, Sherry had read Sinn’s face and come out with a conclusion.

"Got it," I said.

***

I walked toward the minibar. Jenn was inside, visible through the small window, organizing something.

I passed the bag through the opening..

"No way..." she breathed, opening it. Her eyes widened at the clothes.

"Do you know where Major went?" I asked.

Her face did several things at once, the happiness and the excitement and the gratitude all competing for space. She looked up.

"Thank you, Abram." She pointed to her right. "He’s in the next room. Just push the door." She hesitated, cheeks flushing. "Sorry, I can’t walk you there. I need to try these on."

"It’s okay, Jenn." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

I found the door. Closed. Voices inside, which I couldn’t make out clearly, except that one of them was Major’s and it was raised.

"Major?" I knocked.

No answer. Still going.

"Major?" I knocked again.

Still nothing. Jenn had said to just push, so I did. The door swung open.

Major was fully occupied, pants around his ankles, hips moving with urgent rhythm. A woman’s legs were wrapped high around his waist, her back against the old wooden desk. It was Mercury. Her head was tilted back, lips parted, one hand gripping Major’s shoulder.

"One minute, Abram," Major called out, not stopping for even a second.

I closed the door immediately.

I stood in the corridor and processed how quickly that had happened. The meal had lasted twenty minutes. Major had somehow found the time and the inclination and Mercury had apparently agreed and the two of them had arrived at this point in a window I would have said was too short.

People out here move fast, I thought. That’s how you survive.

I walked back to the minibar.

"Jenn?"

No answer. She had also disappeared, presumably to try on the new clothes somewhere with a mirror.

I leaned against the counter and waited.

Roughly one minute later, the door opened. Major stepped out first, straightening his gray vest and red bandana with casual satisfaction.

Mercury followed right behind him, hair slightly tousled but her expression perfectly composed, as if she’d simply stepped out for fresh air. She gave me a small, unembarrassed nod and headed toward the stairs without a word.

Major came straight over to me.

"Abram of Goth," he said, still catching his breath. "We need to talk."

"Yes," I said. "We do."

"Guest section," he said. "Nobody will bother us there."

He led the way.

Whatever Sinn told Code upstairs, I thought, following him, I need to get us out of here before it becomes relevant.