Xander


    | wanted to be sure my Beta didn’t feel like we were shoving him out of the way again, but | didn’t even have to say anything.


    Zane was already clearing away our empty bottles. He turned to face me.


    “| know the two of you need to go handle this stuff.


    I''ll be here if you need anything from me, okay?” He shrugged.


    | got up and pped him on the back. “You got it. I’m going to head down to the security center and check out their tech setup. |


    want to find out more about those spiders Mchi was talking about.”


    Mason nodded. “I''ll go with you to see what | can do about this phone. It could be just this one, but maybe something''s going on


    with the equipment that’s being distributed.”


    “You think someone’s on the inside?” Zane asked.


    “Could be,” my brother said with a grim expression on his face. “It would make sense, wouldn''t it?”


    “No ce is ever as secure as the people in charge want and need it to be. Not even Brightsky,” | concluded. “And Zane, just so


    you know, when all of this gets sorted, I’m also working on getting you security


    clearance.”


    He grinned and waved a hand in my direction. “No rush. | decided | actually kind of like being a gentleman


    of leisure.”


    |ughed. That was as far away from the Zane | knew as anything could be. “Right. What are you going to do while we’re gone?


    Get your nails done? Maybe a spa treatment?”


    “That actually doesn’t sound half bad,” Zane said with another broad grin. “A massage...”


    “Ugh,” my brother cut in, holding up Goldie’s phone.


    “All of that sounds better than dealing with this f uckery.”


    Anything sounded better than that. We left Zane behind in the apartment and made our way throu long hallways and several


    levels to get to themand center. Mason peeled off to go to the equipmen while | asked for entry to the audio/visual hub.


    “Xander, right?” A tall, lean man with pointed ears got up to shake my hand. “Pleasure to meet you. We’ heard a lot about you


    and your brother. I’m Franco.


    This is Jordy”


    At my look of surprise, Jordyughed. “Yeah, we''re twins.”


    Both had the same startlingly blue eyes, the irises rimmed with pale green, and slightly oblong pupils


    instead of round. Their white-blond hair hung past their shoulders, braided and tied back in aplicated design. They were


    identical. The only way to tell them apart was by their different colored shirts.


    “What can we help you with?” Franco asked. He wore blue.


    Jordy, in red, swiveled in his chair to gesture at therge bank of screens showing many ces in theplex. “Want to take a


    gander at what’s going on around here?”


    from.”


    Franco pulled up a chair. “Have a seat. Tell us about what kind of security you had back where you came


    “Forgive my brother,” Jordy said with a roll of his eyes. “He doesn’t get out much.”


    The two of them even sounded alike. It was weird. | took the chair Franco had offered and looked at the


    screen closest to me. It was showing a familiar sight.


    The training grounds.


    “Do you have anything on the outside?” | asked. “Can you see who goes in and out?”


    “Yeah, sure. Of course.” Jordy typed quickly and the screen changed to show an empty expanse of tundra.


    Together, the twin brothers walked me through the entire setup.


    “But nothing in Standard?” | questioned.


    Franco shook his head. “Standard’s the portal town, but we don’t have jurisdiction there. We could set up


    equipment, | guess, but someone would have to do the maintenance on it, which would mean someone from


    Brightsky would have to be assigned permanently to the town. Nobody wants to live there all the time. Not


    when they could be here instead.”


    “But since it''s the ce everyone whoes to the enve has to go to first, wouldn’t it make more


    sense to have eyes there?”


    | didn’t want to get too deep into the neers who’d shown up in town. Franco and Jordy were on the


    security team, but that didn’t mean Mchi had alerted them of something happening outside of the enve.


    Jordy shrugged. “Anyone seeing entry to Brightsky has to be approved, vetted, and confirmed. If th


    made it to Standard in the first ce, they’re already pretty much guaranteed to be epted into the


    “People doe to Standard who have no clue about Brightsky, though. Right?” | asked.


    Franco answered this time. “Sure. It''s a legitimate town. We keep records of whoes and goes, o


    course.”


    “Can | see them? I’m particrly interested in any new arrivals over the past, oh, six months.”


    “Yeah, sure, no problem.” Jordy spun around again to do some more typing. He made a surprised noise.


    “What the.....? Franco, look.”


    His brother bent over Jordy’s shoulder to peer at the screen. “Where''d all those files go?”


    “| don’t know,” Jordy said. “They’re just gone.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!