Mouth agape, Lydia looked between the identical men. Her heart pounded against her chest, dreading the prospect of suffering another bout of humiliation thanks to Osbourne. Once was enough, however brief their encounter.

One well-intentioned yet ultimately calamitous knight in shining armor was one thing, but two? Lydia dared not answer for fear this encounter would end just as awful.

Once again, Joshua came to the rescue, although, judging from the narrative of his words, it was easy to see he was trying to save his own neck.

"So you see, sir, it's really just a big misunderstanding."

Though Joshua carried on, Met stared Lydia down. The High ELETE never looked away or blinked. It was rare to see Joshua snivel—and to a high ranking guard no less. Joshua was a lot of things, but a fool wasn't one of them. He knew to heed Met's reputation—the High ELETE wasn't called The Butcher for nothing.

"Just a misunderstanding," Joshua said again.

Met parroted him, "A misunderstanding? E's—modern day E's—reenact the very event that was single-handedly responsible for throwing the Colony into a five year war, where baby E's were gutted and mutilated for sport." Met's eyes shifted to focus on Joshua. "And you call that a 'misunderstanding?' In Defenses we call it a mistake. A colossal mistake."

The busy theater ground to a halt.

"We are fortunate that a startled nobleman with a pistol didn't shoot one of the E's, or sustain an injury himself, because that would move it up from a mistake to a crime against the Colony. And you know how the saying goes...."

Nobody spoke, nobody moved, but Lydia found the words leaving her mouth before giving it a second thought.

"Better to step on your own mother than your Colony." As soon as she'd said it, the edge on Met's glare told her she should have chosen less casual wording.

Turning his attention to Joshua again, Met said, "So I'll ask you again, was one of these two there?"

"Well...well, I can't say for sure," Joshua floundered. "I was by the buffet when the ruckus...commotion happened."

"A.R. Ruckus has been arrested for her participating a reenactment of Delany's last stand. All diskettes have been returned to their owners. That is what I intend to make certain of," Met said. "Which is why we were rather startled to find a random one still at large."

Lydia's heart leapt at the prospect that the money might come back A random one? Her hopes died when it dawned on her. Ruckus hadn't had her diskette. She willed herself not to focus on the twins. Osbourne—whichever one he was—had her monetary diskette.

"And as you've said, they've been returned. Lydia hasn't filed a complaint, so on what grounds are you dragging me along?" Joshua asked.

"Your party, your responsibility. One would think you'd be happy to know we've caught them all."

"Right, and that means the issue is finished. It's all f—"

"Stop talking," Met ordered.

Joshua yelped as he clammed up.

Met turned to Lydia and asked, "Was one of these two men there?"

Palms sweaty, Lydia did what she was always told to do in the presence of a Colony guard: if she couldn't lie well, tell the truth.

"Yes."

The twins flinched. Met leaned away. Whether it was out of surprise at the information itself, it was hard to say.

"Did he take your money?"

Lydia couldn't answer this one. Losing her diskette had been her own fault mostly—if she thought about it with the knowledge she had now.

It was a lie, but not a lie when she said, "No. I gave it away."

"You gave one year's worth of monetary credits away?" Met quipped.

Met knew the amount. That meant he knew more about it than he was letting on. The man had some sort of agenda, and it was unlikely he'd be swayed from it.

"Which one?" Met asked.

"Beg your pardon?" Lydia stuttered.

To her chagrin, Met gestured at the twins, asking the very question Lydia hoped she'd misunderstood.

"Which one of these men was it?" Met repeated.

The knowledge that Lydia herself wasn't in trouble meant the sweat came slower, but it still came. When she turned to the men in question, she glanced from one to the next and was in awe. They were utterly identical. They even shared a freckle on the top of their upper lips.

Something about the situation seemed off. If this was really an official visit, Lydia doubted it would be carried out in a theater. The guards would have called her in and she would have been briefed. She'd ignored one Colony message this morning but surely the guards, even a High ELETE like Met would go through the proper channels. Met knew the twins and must have known it would be impossible to tell them apart.

Met waited.

Whatever fury was fueling this encounter it was also influencing Met's patience, or rather, the lack thereof.

"Simply point to one of them, either one," Met said through gritted teeth. "You will get it right, I guarantee it."

"W...what'll happen to them?" Lydia asked.

One of them snorted out a laugh and Met turned his head towards the twin so slowly he appeared possessed.

The twins hung their heads again. Met sounded calmer as he reached inside the bag and held up an all too familiar diskette. "This morning, this was 'turned over' to the guards, as if an anonymous Good Samaritan was looking to return it. Is this yours?"

It had Lydia's name on the core files; the man must have known that.

"That's not how it works, however," Met said. "When diskettes get turned over anonymously, they are taken and evaluated. It would be another year before it returns to you."

"Is that all?" Joshua scoffed.

Lydia felt like she was dying inside. It was a great deal to her, and now her diskette belonged to the guards for another year. It really was gone.

"There's absolutely nothing on this diskette to implicate these twins, but I know them, and I know one of them was there. So I'll ask you again, which one was it?"

What was the point? Osbourne had been trying to return the diskette when the guards got hold of him. It made no sense to get him in trouble now, so Lydia remained tight lipped.

"Let me explain something to you, Ms. Lydia. That little stunt you and your boyfriend set up is a serious offense."

"Boyfriend?" Lydia squawked. She quieted when she caught sight of Joshua's mortified face. Mist. Wringing her hands, Lydia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said, "Josh...." She swallowed down her disgust. "Joshy was buying me food when the E's came in demanding diskettes, so I don't really know what happened. When everyone got their diskettes back, mine wasn't in it...maybe someone found it and tried to turn it in. I don't know anything about the E's who took it though, and I don't know what happened to my diskette after I..." She glanced to Joshua again and grumbled, "After Joshy took me home."

Onlookers coughed and shuffled, but no one said anything. Met turned to the twin closest to him. "Mikael B. Osbourne, you are charged with theft and the use of aggressive force within a noble's house. You will return those credits tenfold. Should you not return that money to the tenth, we both know where you're going."

The other twin picked his head up. "Sir. Please. I should have said something sooner but I'm—"

"One word," Met warned. "One word and I'll make it twenty-fold."

His top lip twitching, the second twin still protested, "Sir, he's ill. You cannot expect him to earn that much. I—"

"Twenty-fold, then. One more word," Met bellowed, "And I'll brand him to this woman's house."

Lydia took a step back. For her, it was not offensive, but the idea of threatening to shuffle another human being around like chattel resonated because neither twin spoke after that. One hundred years ago, before the laws changed, that was the status E's had, objects, property, tools; living and breathing but ultimately inhuman and undeserving of care or consideration.

The idea of someone still set in such an archaic mindset actually carrying influence as a Colony official was surprising.

Lydia opened her mouth to protest but the twin charged with the crime cut Met a glance and said, "Jyes, Sah."

His brother stepped in the way before Met could advance.

"Sir," the twin said, "Sir, I ask to trade his sentence. I'll work the twenty years of credit. Heck, I...I have much more than that saved up. I could easily pay to the thirtieth and square it away."

"Interfere, even slightly," Met said, meeting him face to face, "And he's going into a wall."

The E looked pale as he stepped away, inching his brother back with him.

"Ms. Lydia," Met said.

Lydia flinched. "Huh?"

"This man now owes you twenty years of monetary credits. He will start immediately. Do you have someone to sign off on having an E in your home?"

There was no one to sign off, because it was impossible to do. Dizzy would flip if she woke up to an E in her house. She'd not just flip, she'd flip and take flight in hysterics.

"No," Lydia said, finally.

Met's stern posture wilted. "I see...."

"I'll sign off. He can stay at my house," Joshua chimed in, taking Lydia by the waist. "Lydia comes over all the time; she practically lives there."

Met narrowed his brow. "You are a Laurence, your mother has specified—"

"I'm the one in charge now, finally," Joshua said. "And I say it's fine."

In that weak embrace, Lydia tensed up, desperate to escape from it. Joshua's bony body wasn't what troubled her, but the way the man trembled reminded Lydia of her own taxed nerves.

With as much grace as she could muster, Lydia broke away from Joshua's hold. "What are my options? This is all happening rather fast."

"Is..." Bradley spoke up but backed away when they turned to him. "Are you saying that Lyd—Ms. Lydia, has an E in her service? Even temporarily?"

Met didn't look behind him when he answered, "For a time."

"Well, Lydia's got a secure job here. Surely the E could tarry here when the need arises." Bradley began and paused. He cleared his throat and asked, "Just one of them, correct—not two? Just the one? The other won't be allowed to come?"

"Just the one," Met grumbled.

"Well, how about I sign off on it?" Bradley suggested.

Lydia blinked, utterly confused. "I'm not sure what he's asking."

Bradley inched closer, his smile shaky yet somber. "It means, should he ever run off and gets caught, he will have a designated domicile for the foreseeable future here. E's absorb matter so we cannot afford to have two here, not twins, but one—well, our structure is large enough to accommodate the one." Next it was Bradley's bony arms to take Lydia into a half hug. "Anything for my employees."

"See here," Joshua called out, "My girlfriend can assign him to my home. Who the hell are you to interfere?"

They went back and forth but Met held Lydia's gaze the entire time. "You have to decide," Met said. "Where will you assign this E?"

Lydia looked between Joshua and Bradley.

"I...." Lydia glanced to Bradley. She didn't know the man, didn't trust the man, but she did know one thing; he was a better option than Joshua. Bradley might only have influence so long as she had a job, but Joshua was out to get Lydia's very self. "What would happen if I...I lost this job, maybe?"

"Reassign him elsewhere," Met answered. "And he should not take all that long to return that money twenty-fold. Once he does, he is free."

Lydia glanced at Joshua's unsettling grin only once, his face so tight he could hardly make it.

"I do love...." Lydia breathed out, "...My boyfriend. But I don't want to insult my employer. If I have to choose, I'll assign him here, but really, this isn't necessary, especially if he's ill. What's...what's wrong with him anyhow?"

Met snorted out a laugh as he put his hand against one cylinder then the other and they gave way.

"Physically, he's fine," Met called over his shoulder as he walked away. "What he needs is a swift kick in the backside."

"An E," Joshua muttered.

Bradley ran off in excitement, the room abuzz in a matter of minutes.

"This is fantastic!" Joshua exclaimed. "Ask me anything, anything at all. I know how to train 'em, keep 'em under control, fight 'em, work 'em. Hell, I even know how to bed one." He laughed to himself, but didn't seem to notice or mind that no one else laughed with him. "But that'd take too much effort. And...."

As Joshua continued to gush, Lydia stared at the twins, thankful they hadn't moved because she couldn't have told them apart if they happened to shift.

The second one—the free one, although sharing the same placid expression as his twin, said, "You've just made the biggest mistake of your life, Rich Girl."