Liao Cytheria took comfort from routine; the sun rising early wasn't going to interrupt her morning coffee and sit down breakfast, even if it meant she would arrive at the office after daylight. She just ignored it and listened to her watch.

Just like every morning, she enjoyed her bacon and eggs with buttered white toast slowly, and drank every sip of fresh squeezed juice alone at the kitchen table. Her old bones ached like they would forever. Just like they did every morning, only this morning she watched the sun rising out the wide windows and over her garden fence, lighting a beautiful snarl of climbing wildflowers she hadn't really noticed in ninety years living in this house. The surface of the rock wall pond glimmered with light caught on the scales of the goldfish.

Once she was good and ready, and finished appreciating the scene, she rose slowly, feeling her muscles protest at the shift of her weight. At least she could take a link to her office downtown. A little more limber once she was up, she commuted by stepping through it.

A knock came at the office door before the link closed behind her. Cytheria ignored it and sat down, feeling stiff again, now in her joints. Behind her desk, rays of light warmed her back as if it were much later in the day than it was, but Cytheria knew the precise time. She would choose to agree with her watch. The strong, pale morning gleam sneaking halfway across her magic cast faux water desktop attempted to get into her head and weaken her discipline.

A second knock came from her patient visitor, and Cytheria directed a loud, "Come in, please," as much to the door, which understood that it should open, as to the visitor herself, Candra Satiri. The one great strength Cytheria still retained was her powerful voice; a lifetime vocalist hobby had led to protective measures for her vocal cords for which she was grateful now.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to see you," said Cytheria. Candra came in, curled ringlets of red tumbling around her face as she walked, an almost insulting picture of youth.

And she would be forever.

Cytheria had almost added 'today,' as in, 'I was hoping I wouldn't have to see you, today,' yet truthfully, she never wanted to see Candra Satiri, and she preferred to speak as honestly as she could manage — even if it was rude. Cytheria felt her advanced years earned her the privilege to speak truth and truth only.

"I'm readying for a meeting, Exequi, can this not wait? The pushback on expanding router license quotas this quarter is nonsensical, something I sense your faction behind, because your lot never have made much sense, and I'm not finished my closing statement on cost benefit analysis. You know, because," she couldn't resist, "my way actually brings profit into this company, where the costs you imagine are virtually . . . well, imaginary.

"Constellation has two purposes in this world, Exequi Satiri. To expand modern conveniences and prosperity, first. And second, to make money. By selling things. Like magic routers. To paying customers — so long as they have the proper licensing, which Portia Nero also insists on limiting to a point that renders them almost entirely futile for stars know what reason. Stars know what her business plan is if it isn't to drive our customer base and revenue into the ground."

Candra Satiri stood quietly through the monologue. Only when Cytheria finished did she say, "If these are your remarks to Exequi Nero, they're well written, Cytheria. I don't think you need any more preparation. May I sit?"

Cytheria wanted badly to say no. She assented with a nod. Sitting, Candra continued an old conversation. "You've toyed with our faction enough, and now your persistence will pay off; we're ready to make you the generous offer you've been holding out for. So stop refusing our offer and name your price. I'm authorized to meet it."

"In the past," said Cytheria, "I've done you the courtesy of pretending to not to know what you were insinuating."

Partly true. In the past she'd been so vague Cytheria had always doubted whether Candra was really asking what she thought she was asking — the only reason Cytheria hadn't warned the president.

No matter. There was time to do so now. The second this girl was out of her office, Cytheria would call Gaia Solin. "I've done you the courtesy of pretending not to know why you're here today, and pretending to forget the indignity you've committed by offering me a bribe. I wish you had walked away, Satiri, rather than return today with another offer. You should be ashamed. The answer is no. I won't accept a bribe for my executive board vote. Please leave. I don't think I will get over my repulsion for the rest of this eternity we're living in. It almost makes me regret having to live forever amongst such people as yourself and Justin Marius."

Candra Satiri didn't look offended; she sat up a little straighter in her seat, alert, as if she had heard something that would give her a chance to win this one. As if she saw her opening.

Cytheria folded her hands in front of her and waited to hear what base ideas she'd express next.

"You dislike eternal life just as much as Exequi Marius," said Candra Satiri. "I'm surprised you still side with Gaia Solin after all these years. You're aware that as president, Justin won't permit the current state of immortality to continue."

"I don't dislike eternal life," snapped Cytheria. "Societally, immortality is a modern improvement for the Soliari to enjoy. Though flawed, it has been a great equalizer, providing the utmost opportunity for social mobility, over a long enough timeline, especially with the resources we can generate magically. And as a company policy, I support it. You can't reverse it at this point. Who would vote for that?"

"Not reverse it," said Candra Satiri, leaning in. "But we need to amend it. Solin's taking too long. The cycle of life and death has become static, and Solin's fine to let that continue forever. No death. No birth. Each only in tragic circumstances. And you and I—"

"You and I get to see every moment of time this precious life has to offer, never missing out on a single grain of it, spending eternity with the ones we love and building the greatest civilization the world has ever seen, with an unparalleled standard of living. And I don't plan to get bored of it any time soon, or to run out of work to do, because when the Soliari empire reaches the pinnacle of civilization, Constellation can expand the empire overseas and across the planet to bring our quality of life to the rest of the world."

Candra Satiri responded in a way she never would have expected. With a gleam in her eye, she stood, smiling and nodding, agreeing, and half turning for the door. "Quite right, I think your views line up nicely with Justin's."

What was that supposed to mean? Cytheria stood as if with new strength, drawn after Candra as she made her way to the door. Following her across the office, Cytheria kept both eyes on Candra's face the whole time to puzzle out her meaning.

Turning back to meet her eyes, Candra added, "What good's eternal life, though, without eternal youth?"

Cytheria tried to process that while the doors remained closed to prevent Candra Satiri from leaving. Candra Satiri asked them to open. "No," said Cytheria, and her doors obeyed her. Though it was a meaningless gesture, she found herself bent forward, one hand on the magic cast oak as if holding it closed. "That isn't possible. If it were a simple amendment to make, Solin would do it. Explain to me how this amendment comes from Exequi Marius, a man who counters change at every turn."

"I'll tell you," Candra said, "after you make a promise you can't break. If you want what I'm offering, you have until crepesculum. And if you miss this chance, you'll live to regret it. For a long time, I assume."

"You'll regret derailing the prosperity of the greatest empire in the world for greedy, selfish reasons. If you have any conscience to speak of," said Cytheria. Before she told the doors, "Open," they were already swinging. Her tone alone would have been enough for them to know her visitor had been dismissed.

Feeling self-righteous, though paradoxically hypocritical, Cytheria went back to organizing her presentation on how to gouge Soliari customers effectively for access to magical amenities.

The questions she should have asked occurred to her only minutes after Candra Satiri left. Exequi Marius wanted to restore youth to the elderly. How soon would it be possible? How much would it cost? Who was behind such developments? She would need to find out what Marius's faction had been developing in secret.

And then she would call President Solin and tell her everything. Right away.

Thank you for reading. Please leave a 🌟 if you are enjoying it! The stellar power fuels my writing.