Sonnet constantly seemed distracted. Everyone seemed distracted. I had my daily meetings with Mr. McShane. He'd celebrated Sonnet saying yes like the father I'd never had. He was cold and calculating, but something about him pouring me an iced water while he drank champagne felt right. Natural.

I had someone looking out for me. I'd never been remarkable. But now, the whole world felt like it was at my disposal.

Everything except Sonnet. Ted had gotten his engagement and he'd evidently been satisfied with it. The whole group was settling down into a routine. And I was a part of it. Never a key part, but a part nonetheless. When an argument broke out, I was a satisfying tie breaker.

Mr. McShane assured me I'd get an engagement notice to Sonnet soon. He told me it'd be 5 days at the latest.

"So, I got a recommendation for this restaurant. The Beoleo. Have you heard of it?"

Sonnet looked at me. I had been right. It was the most wonderful feeling when she looked at me. "Yeah, it's this super high-end place. The last time I went there was when my adoption was finalized."

"Well, I could take you there."

McShane had told me he'd pay for it. I hadn't needed to know anything more.

"Yeah? Are you suddenly Emrys Pax?"

"I'm sorry, who?"

"He's the richest man in the world right now." She sighed, but not with disdain. She seemed to be in a better mood lately.

"Well, no, I'm not suddenly super rich. However, I am the chosen one. That comes with perks."

Sonnet looked like she wanted to say something. She opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "Perks from who?"

I shrugged. "When you're important enough for a prophecy, any number of people are ready to give you little things here and there."

"Just tell me you're working for the government, Rob."

"Fine, I'm working for the DSUI."

She nodded. "Is that where you go after school?"

"You noticed?"

"Yeah, I noticed. I do notice you, Rob."

I beamed. She chuckled.

One of the girls from the soccer team walked up to us. She looked like another stereotypical jock. Cut from the same mold as Tyena or something.

"Hey, you mind if I steal Sonnet for a moment?"

Sonnet straightened.

"Yeah, go right ahead." I smiled. The moment was too good not to be cut short. But at least we'd had a moment. Sonnet liked me. That was a win.

Sonnet moved away with the jock. They were whispering to each other. They'd started doing that a lot recently. I watched them go. I'd never understand the opposite sex.

Sonnet was always talking to someone. Whatever group project they had took up way more time than any group project I'd ever had. Of course, Sonnet was likely doing a better job on every project than I ever had.

I caught the train the other way from Infine manor after school. Sonnet waved goodbye. I must've looked like an idiot, grinning from ear to ear. The train was smoother and quicker than anything I'd ever been on before. I was on the other side of Bellmouth in what felt like a heartbeat.

I'd always wanted to go to upstate New York, even if upstate New York didn't quite exist in the same way. Bellmouth was a city in what had, during my lifetime, been vast farmland. I stepped off the train. The crispness of the buildings and the sheer hygiene that radiated off it was something I'd never get used to.

I stepped into the building. The inside of DSUI headquarters was always cold. I'd hug myself in my coat before stepping in, but it was always just a bit too cold. For a brief half a second, it was warmer than outside, so I'd rip off my coat. Then I'd shiver as I fed my chip into a machine. The machine would then spit the chip back out, and something that looked like the love child of R2D2 and a Roomba would escort me to Mr. McShane's office. Mr. McShane's office was close to the top of the building, but the world wasn't really all that bad. Most of the stairs were motorized (sort of like an escalator) and R2D2 Roomba was programed to spit out factoids as we went.

I grinned from ear to ear. The R2D2 Roomba slid open the door.

"It's been good, thanks for asking."

Mr. McShane chuckled dryly. The R2D2 Roomba left us.

"Hey, Rob."

"Mr. McShane. How has life been, you know, Shaneing."

I really should figure out the end of my sentences before I start them. Mr. McShane didn't acknowledge the mess up, which I wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

Mr. McShane twirled with the cord of a lamp.

"Hey, I keep meaning to ask, why do you still have old stuff? You have holograms and you still have a plug in lamp."

"Less trackable." It was short, concise, to the point.

"Right, so what are we talking about today?"

"Well, we're making progress on your engagement."

"Great! I mean, cool. Fine. Whatever. Pssh. Who cares? Not me."

Mr. McShane sighed. "How's Sonnet?"

"Really good, thanks for asking. I think we've got something special going."

"That's wonderful to hear. Now, I was thinking some training today. We could make a fighter out of you yet."

"You mean, you could watch me get pummeled again."

"Hopefully not, but as that's the way this is going to go, I have no other commitments."

Great. That was a subtle dig. No scratch that, not even subtle. He wasn't going to mentor me in a yay, Rob, you can do it! Way. He was going to mentor me in a you can get beaten to a pulp. It'll be learning experience kind of way.

I sighed and left the room. He followed me with disappointment that I could feel in my bones.

All the hallways looked the same, which worked well for the vibe of the office. It did not work well for directionally impaired individuals such as myself. I picked a direction and went with it.

"Rob!"

"Yeah?"

"That's the wrong way."

"Oh." I could feel my face heating up.

I heard a scream.

"What was that?" I turned toward the sound and took a step further down the hallway.

Mr. McShane's hand was on my shoulder.

"Someday these secrets will be all yours. Today is not that day."

"What? Didn't you hear that scream?"

"No, and neither did you."

Shivers ran up my spine. "Okay, I must've been mistaken."

Mr. McShane looked downright murderous. Turned out my taste in father figures had not changed post time travel.

I gulped. We walked toward the training room. Mr. McShane's face looked just as composed as before. He didn't bring up the scream for the rest of the meeting. He didn't seem to remember it. He didn't make any note that he did.

I'd probably just made it up. But Mr. McShane never did say that it wasn't a scream. I took refuge on the train. I couldn't tell Sonnet about that. I knew I couldn't. I took a deep breath. I knew Mr. McShane. I liked Mr. McShane. Nothing had happened. It had to have just been vents squeaking.