A soft knock at my door made me jump.

"Yes?" I asked, afraid of who it would be.

The door opened slowly and Mina slipped in the narrow crack. She gently shut the door behind her, the soft click resonating throughout the room.

'Hi' I signed.

'Hello' she approached with caution, hesitant in her signing.

'What's wrong?' I asked.

'I want to take you somewhere'

With hesitation, I agreed, dragging my sulking body from my bed.

Together, we strode from The Penthouse, taking back streets and alleys toward the center of The Metropolis.

'Where are we going?' I finally asked.

'To a place I visit frequently' Mina's delicate hands said.

I waited patiently, following her lead as we continued for a few minutes more.

Soon we stopped at a large brown building crammed between others just like it. We were at the back door, a massive air conditioning unit rattling above our heads. Mina gently turned the handle of the door, pushing it inward. The sound of clacking plastic and chattering women reached my ears as we strolled into a massive, industrial kitchen.

"Oh, hello there Mina! How are you? You look great! I'm glad you stopped by, they really- Oh look! It's you again!" Pik, the small Hawaiian woman from The Games a few weeks ago, turned from her sink of water and dirty dishes to speak quickly to us. She stood in the room with a handful of other hard working women who were bustling about with pots and pans in hand.

Mina nodded with a smile and waved at Pik while I said, "yes, it's me again. Hello Pik".

Mina continued to stroll through the kitchen and out a doorway.

"She taking you to see the kids?"

"I uhh- well I'm not sure" I responded hesitantly, trying to follow Mina without being rude.

"Well get get... shoo shoo" she gestured for me to follow the petite brunette.

I nodded and rushed after Mina, crossing the doorway threshold.

Out of the loud kitchen, a quiet but distinct noise that I had not heard in a thousands of years.

Laughter... children's laughter.

I made my way down a dark hallway that let out into a room brightened by natural light from skylights in the tall ceiling.

Twenty or so children from the ages of two to eight ran about, playing tag and feeding rag doll babies. Mina sat in the middle of the room being tackled by little boys and girls vying for her attention.

After patting their heads and settling them down with calming hands, Mina signed 'This is where I spend my days off when I am not working for The Boss'.

'Who are they?' I asked, looking down when I felt persistent tugging on my shorts. I looked down to see a small girl of, at most, two, sucking her thumb. Her dirty blond hair was in pigtails and her clothes, although clean, were ragged and frayed. I bent down and picked her up, placing her in my hip as she instantly brought her free hand to play with my ponytail.

'They are children born to people in The Metropolis. Some of them have parents and they leave them here while they work during the day. The others...' she stopped signing to run her hand through a brunette boys hair.

'This is an orphanage?'

'And a daycare' she added.

'Who maintains this place? The food, the electricity, the money?' I asked. It's possible that one or two women could live in this small building with the kids but they're combined work would not be enough to afford this place.

'The Boss does'

I felt like a ton of bricks dropped into my stomach. Instead of responding, I simply stroked the blond child's head, looking down in an attempt to squelch my dread.

'He also funds a free clinic hospital down the road and a charity center across the city'

'Why are you telling me this' I snapped, viciously signing my frustration.

'Because you need to understand what he is doing for the people of this city!' Her anger rivaling my own, she stood up, motioning for the children to go play.

'What do you know about it anyways?' I turned my head in shame as I asked.

'I know a lot of things I probably should not. I know that The Boss burns up his lives to power the city, I know that he showed you and that you-'

'How do you know about the lives?' my curiosity quickly squelched my anger as I signed my question to her.

'Because I built the converter! And I hacked into Lunkfield's pod. Do you really think I became the caretaker of The Penthouse because I was a good maid? No, it is because I am the best with technology in The Metropolis. I can fix anything... well just about anything. I can not fix my own pod, can not get my speech back' she finished sadly.

Mina waved goodbye to the kids and led me out the front door of the Children's Center where we continued to stroll down the street, deeper into the city.

'I'm sorry... I'm sorry that I didn't realize your talents and that you can't get your speech back...'

'I do not want you to be sorry for me, I want you to forgive Brock, to understand why he does what he does and to give him a break'

'I don't understand why every conversation we have results in you trying to convince me to get all cuddly-snuggly with Brittock' I pouted sullenly.

'Brit-tock? What is that word?'

'Brittock. It's his name. His full name, Brock is just a nickname'

'I see... and I do this because I have watched him suffer quietly, live in loneliness and anger for fifty years. He obsessed about this mystery individual and then I find out you are a girl! It all made sense, when you are around he is just... different. He feels, be that anger or sadness or frustration, he feels'

'Hey! Sometimes I make him feel happy!' I said, not liking her implication that I only caused him grief.

'Happy?' she signed curiously, then her brown eyes widened with shock and she grabbed my shirt, pushing me against the wall. 'Did you... did you make him smile? Laugh?!' the intensity and ferocity in her eyes made me extremely nervous and uncomfortable.

'Y-yes?...'

'Are you-oh my- you need to get back to The Penthouse right now and fix what you broke! Whatever you said, whatever you did, take it back and never ever hurt him again. Ever' she said, hitting me with tiny, open palm slaps, the last one being a decisively hard smack to the back of the head.

"Why am I in trouble?! Ouch, geez that hurt!" I said verbally, rubbing the back of my head.

'You deserve it!' she said, pushing me one more time.

"Well you don't have to hit..."

'I am going to run an errand, you head back to The Penthouse' she ordered, like she was my mother, and walked ahead, taking a sharp left at the next intersection.

"Alright I'll just... go..." My voice trailed off as I spun in circles, looking around the tall, densely packed buildings. "How the hell did I get here?" I murmured taking off in the opposite direction that Mina had gone.

I wandered down the winding path that was downtown Metropolis. People with fewer lives lived here in the tightly placed housing, not necessarily in poverty but in homes with lesser quality materials. According to Gerry, a person could earn and save up enough money to move into a more spacious neighborhood, but most people chose not to leave because the community was so refreshing. Neighbors helped do chores and watch children, share meals and cover missed shifts. As I strolled, I saw women shaking out blankets and hanging them up to dry across balconies. Two kids who appeared to be the age of ten ran from one alley to another in a game of chase.

The idea of children never dawned on me. I never thought people would feel safe enough and comfortable enough to have children. Obviously, people felt safe within these walls if they were having babies. Although I couldn't imagine having kids knowing that I would outlive them over and over again. That may not have been much of an issue for people with few lives left but I had eighty five... eighty five lives to burn through watching the world age and die around me.

Perhaps Mina had found a way to hook up children to their parents pods. A shared pod system, otherwise the idea of living forever seemed depressingly pain and slow.

Maybe... Maybe Brittock had a point. Without family, friends, and love, living thousands of years was unbearable.

I stiffened as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Someone was following me, had been for a while. Tensing, reaching instinctively for knife that wasn't there, I sped my pace up and when I rounded a corner out of the individuals sight, I stepped into an alley.

Adrenaline made my heart pound against my ribcage as I waited for the person to catch up with me. A tall man quickly made silent steps as he passed my alley opening. With the speed and silence of large predator, I jumped out, wrapping my elbow around his neck and pulling him backwards, pinning his right arm behind his back. He immediately tried to pry my arm off while simultaneously slamming me against a building.

With a grip of death I yelled "why are you-shit..." I finished as I felt cold steal being plunged into my stomach.

I released him and grabbed the handle of the knife with both hands. He turned, ready to attack me but stopped when he realized who it was.

"I am... So terribly sorry" he said, regret filling his slightly accented voice.

I winced as I pulled out the blade, turning it around in my bloody hands to point it at him.

"Who the hell are you?" I wheezed as my body healed. He jumped back at what I can assume were my temporarily black eyes.

"I-I was sent to get you" he answered nervously, "are you ok, you need stitches and medicine and-"

"I'm fine" I hissed as I stood up straight, "who sent you to get me?"

"The Lady Madam Truth" he said as if I should have known, "please, let me take you to the-"

"I'm fine" I repeated while pulling up my shirt sharply to show him my now smooth stomach.

"How did-"

"Long story, why does The Truth want me? How did she know I was in the downtown?"

"She's The Truth... She knows many things" he said bluntly, "please, come with me".

"I-" I said, not trusting the situation, looking for the best way out.

"She said you wouldn't trust me and told me to tell you that 'I know you better than you know yourself, you are consistent to a fault, like the sun that sets in the west'" my gaze snapped to him as he finished the last bit, which was obviously a dig at Brittock's belief.

"How could she possibly know that?"

"She has her ways, please, come" he said, gesturing to a path that lead uphill.

"Fine" I sighed, reluctantly starting the long trek up the road.