Sienna slipped out of the office and pulled the door shut behind her.
Click.
One breath.
Then another.
Her shoulders rose and fell slowly. She closed her eyes, let them relax, then opened them again.
Sienna released the handle. Only then did she step away from the door.
The curved staircase was polished stone, clean, with natural light spilling down from the tall panes above. The light caught the edges of each step, turning the pale surface blinding white.
Halfway down, she heard Ikade arguing with someone.
"Mm. I heard you the first time, okay? That's not what I said, so don't go putting words in my mouth."
Sienna reached the landing and looked over.
Ikade stood near the wall with her phone pressed to her ear, one hand resting on her hip. Her tail moved lazily behind her, though the tip twitched every few seconds. She lifted her eyes.
The two stared at one another.
"Mm, I need to go now. We'll talk later, okay? Bye-bye."
Ikade ended the call and lowered the phone from her ear.
Neither of them said anything at first. Then Ikade slipped the phone into her pocket and let out a small breath through her nose.
"Well." Sienna watched while Ikade ran her gaze over her. "Don't you look lovely."
Sienna's expression went flat.
Then the heat hit her face all at once. It climbed from her neck to her ears so fast it almost felt painful.
"Everything went well?"
Sienna clicked her tongue.
"Mhm. Yeah. I think it's in my blood to make his blood pressure spike every time we meet...didn't quite happen this time though."
"Gasp!—Sierra! You cant say that!"
Ikade looked up at her, shock written all over her face. Her feline ears shot up, and her tail stalled mid-swing in pure disbelief.
They pushed the door open together and slipped into the bar. Warm fried food washed over them at once while they ignored the spectacle to their left—someone yelling over a spilled drink, music drifting loose through the room.
"Why not?" Sienna shot back, the corners of her mouth tugging upward. "I'd be doing the community a service. You're welcome."
Ikade stopped mid-step, their interlocked hands keeping them tethered. Sienna took another couple of steps before glancing back at her feline companion, the lazy tail behind Ikade drifting in small circles again.
"That doesn't mean you get to commit emotional murder, y'know."
Nearby, a waitress wiped down a table with practiced swipes, clearing away the trash. Her hair fell over one purple eye. She wore a green button-up cardigan, its four brown buttons holding it shut against her body, though the short length hardly mattered with the white dress underneath.
A sudden flare burst from a small mountain of cut onions at the counter. Someone had tossed something in before flambéing something they absolutely should not have.
For a moment, the fire surged upward, cutting between Sienna and Ikade. Golden light flashed in their eyes, catching the steel wires holding the light bars and the faint shimmer of bottles stacked off in the corner.
"What if—"
Ikade pointed dramatically at the flame, her finger curving upward while she squinted at it like she'd just uncovered a terrible omen.
"You suddenly, I dunno, burst into flames? Who's gonna help you then?"
Sunlight cut across Ikade's cheek from the window on her right. Sienna's face stayed swallowed by the shadow of a support column, sharpening her eyes into something colder—two different moods pressed into the same frame.
Sienna rolled her eyes.
"If I burst into flames, that's your fault. You jinxed it."
"Me? No, no. I'm innocent."
Ikade's ears twitched in a tiny dance, her tail curling around her leg while she looked away.
"Such loyalty you have. Truly the peak of friendship."
Their bickering carried them out of the bar and into the now-dark lounge, where only a handful of lights glowed along the second level. The stairs to their right groaned beneath someone's steps, and the curtains to their left—where the windows should've been—hung shut.
In the center, a movie played on the TV.
A man in a lazily put-together outfit came down the wooden stairs and gave her a nod, which she returned. His short Caprinae horns curled inward along his head. Sienna guided Ikade through the quiet space, their footsteps tapping across the floor until they reached the elevator, and she pressed the button at its side.
Their hushed murmurs echoed off the elevator doors before they slid open with a ding.
The two found a little solace in the ride down, boring music playing overhead. The walls were cluttered with both worn and freshly pinned posters, all held up by mismatched magnets.
Different signatures dotted the surface. Stickers clung in misshapen clusters—the marks of those who had come and gone, some still here, some no longer with them.
Once they reached the ground floor, they crossed the lobby with their joined hands swinging back and forth in dramatic rhythm. The sun blessed their spirits the moment they stepped through the front doors and onto the crowded sidewalk, weaving between slow pedestrians and loud citizens.
Soon enough, Sienna found her vehicle exactly where she had left it.
She unlocked the door with a quick twist of her hand before sliding in and leaning over to pop the passenger side open. Once they were both inside, the car rumbled to life and eased out onto the street, Ikade clicking her seatbelt into place at the last second.
Sienna lifted her wrist and an opaque screen flickered into view—nothing blue or glowing like some cheap movie effect, just a clean, muted display.
"Just...hold on."
Her fingers moved in a scrolling motion while her eyes tracked a long message sent a week ago, back when her bracelet had still been on Do Not Disturb. The wall of text was the last thing she wanted to read.
"Huh...so he moved shop...uh."
Ikade peeked over but didn't bother reading, more interested in her show playing out loud. Sienna let the screen fade, grabbed the steering wheel and turned it just before she clipped a car.
"We'll stop by his place, I have to get more medicine since we're almost out."
Ikade flashed her an okay sign before slouching against the seat. The brutal stop-and-go had already worn both their patience thin. Lunch rush meant half the city was out running errands or grabbing food, clogging the roads like they were doing it out of spite.
Sienna let her eyes move over the streets ahead, searching for a way around it.
Then she found one.
The car eased onto an entrance ramp sloping downward, finally letting them use a route far more convenient. Ikade leaned over her phone while Sienna turned the wheel left and leaned toward the door to make sure she didn't scrape the curb.
She pulled up beside a slim, unmanned booth. Reaching for her wallet, Sienna pulled out a card printed with an aerial image of the city, an orange bar running down one side with all the needed information.
She tapped it against the screen.
The arm in front of them lifted.
They descended into the underground tunnel, the city's screaming slowly fading behind them as giant fans drowned it out with a constant rush of pushed air. Smooth concrete walls stretched in both directions, lights gliding over her car and the toll booths beside them, while her map fed her a steady stream of changing information.
Twenty minutes of gentle curves followed. Cars shifted around them while five lanes narrowed into four. The rightmost lane peeled away, taking another with it.
Then the leftmost lane merged into theirs.
A few minutes later, flashing lights began populating the ceiling above the now two-lane stretch—something Sienna paid no mind to. She downshifted from fifth into fourth with a clean double clutch.
Its pops and bangs rolled through the tunnel, echoing until sunlight appeared in the distance. She steered right and downshifted again, the vehicles behind her slowing in turn while the ramp pulled them upward and the sky returned overhead.
The tunnel spilled them onto a highway.
Sienna accelerated immediately, not even waiting for anyone to make room.
The car behind them honked like slowing down was impossible. She cut across and took the off-ramp the second she spotted her exit.
A few turns later, they parked in front of a rather impressive building, settling a few feet off the curb and parallel to the street.
Sienna took the lead while Ikade held onto her arm for support. They spotted a set of stairs leading up to the ground floor and climbed them together.
Concrete. Steel. Glass.
The building opened around them the moment they stepped through one of its entrances. Large white steel beams arched up and behind them like modern flying buttresses, with smaller panes of glass fitted beneath.
The floors served as practically everything at once—community spaces, small venues, study corners, lounges, pop-up shops of every kind. If it could fit inside a hollow square of architecture, someone had probably tried it.
Too many rooms.
Too many shortcuts.
Too many half-floors for Sienna to bother mapping out.
The place had only recently been finished and people were still constantly coming and going, their voices blending into one long current of background noise.
The two started moving deeper through the interior, following the curve of the hallways while taking their time to glance at whatever caught their eye. They rode escalator after escalator, used an elevator after spotting something interesting on the floor below, only to head back up again once they'd had their fill.
"So many damn turns just to reach him."
Sienna muttered it under her breath, letting her head fall forward while her feathers sagged with visible misery. Beside her, Ikade rubbed her arm in slow little circles.
"Why'd he have to plop himself all the way out here?"
A few minutes later, after one hallway, a left turn, then a right, they found themselves standing before a steel door.
It was a sleek matte gray with three white lines running across its surface. The people around them had thinned enough that only a few cleaners remained, washing the tiles free of whatever had happened yesterday. The steady drone of the fans pushed the stale air elsewhere through the building.
Sienna breathed through her nose, pulled out a different card, and hesitated for half a second before tapping it against the reader beside the door.
A soft click answered almost immediately.
What greeted them was a short hallway built from the same material as the walls outside, except for the wooden floor, which looked like it had been installed at the last minute.
To their right sat two potted plants with a bench between them. To the left stood a simple kiosk with the cartoonish face of a coney, a small pallet rack beside it holding the rest of the deliveries.
"Should we wait?"
"He's probably eating."
Ikade tilted her head and tapped the kiosk.
Once. Twice.
Then several more times until the screen finally switched to a countdown, a cute cat head munching on a fish stick beside it.
Ikade's ears snapped up the second Sienna raised her fist toward the door.
Before she could knock, Ikade caught her wrist with both hands.
"No. We are not starting this visit by making enemies."
"But what if he didn't hear us?"
Ikade gave her the flattest look she'd seen all day.
Then, without another word, she tugged Sienna toward the bench and gently pushed her down beside her.
The two sat.
The low hum of the building pressed in around them and the soft ticking countdown still playing on the kiosk screen.
A few seconds passed and Ikade reached for her hand.
Sienna glanced down before her hand was turned over when a thumb was pressed down into the center of her palm.
A repetition that became little shapes.
Sienna exhaled through her nose, the corner of her mouth twitched with every nerve Ikade pressed.
"What're you even doing?"
"Passing the time. What else?"
Sienna let out the smallest scoff and paid it no further mind. She lifted her left wrist, let the screen pop up and started scrolling through her socials.
Time slipped by in a strange, fast-forward sort of way.
Click.
The steel door unlocked.
Both of them looked up at once as the owner finally came into view.
A metal gate separated them from the darkness beyond. A single light flicked on overhead.
step...step step step.
Slow. Unhurried.
A figure emerged from the dark little by little, one hand still buried in a half-crumpled bag of chips.
He chewed the last of the chips while walking, his eyes settled on them through the bars of the gate.
"You sure picked an odd time to come by. Didn't even make an appointment."
Ikade lifted a hand in greeting. "Hello again~ Sorry for dropping in."
"Hello to you too."
Sienna rose halfway from the bench, then stopped when Ikade slipped past her first.
By the time Sienna stepped forward, the gate was already unlocking. She barely got a look at him before he turned and started walking again.
"Well? You two coming in or what?"
A second later, she was already seated without really remembering when she'd crossed the room.
The place felt like a lounge and a waiting room mashed together.
The man had mid-length purplish-red hair brushing his neck, with short black-and-brown feathered tufts jutting from the sides of his head. His eyes held a flushed yellow hue, and he wore a loose dark blue jacket, slightly faded, with pale streaks that might've just been the fabric wearing out.
The sleeves ran a little long before narrowing at the cuffs, two oversized pockets sitting at the front, a brown inner collar peeking through.
Under it, he wore a vanilla-colored shirt striped in thin black lines, every button done except the top one. His pants were a soft-looking blend of brown and tan, the kind of thing someone wore when they cared more about comfort than appearances.
"You done staring? Damn pervert."
He gave her a sideways look.
Sienna just shrugged.
Ikade sat beside her, a black metal table separating the two of them.
"I'm here for a checkup."
The man groaned at the simplicity of it, shoulders slumping as he leaned back.
"Aren't you lucky. I literally just got done with lunch."
He got to his feet, and the two followed after him while he flipped a switch on the way through the door.
Two quick right turns.
The few lights overhead did their best to push back the dark. Thick cables snaked toward a room straight ahead, one they ignored completely before taking a left.
Sienna raised an eyebrow and stepped over the remaining cables, counting three that ran from the earlier room to a panel near the front door. The floor was a glossy metallic gray, broken only by drain-like slits running down the center beneath a low display that showed nothing.
Two gunmetal trash bins stood spaced apart along a glass wall.
The larger room was packed with supplies. Medical tools rested in sterile packages atop trays and trolleys. A washing station sat off to the side, and a handful of medical machines stood at attention like they were waiting to be told what to do.
She looked across the room and spotted three more cables feeding out from a panel near the entrance.
That side held two rooms with an open space between them. In the one closer to the door stood a larger machine, fitted with a few arms and other parts she couldn't quite make sense of.
The open space beside it looked more like a normal doctor's office—desk, examination table, a couple of trinkets. A dark blue curtain hung along the back wall, hiding whatever sat behind it.
Ikade glanced up and noticed the few wooden blocks scattered along the ceiling. The room was lit by only two LED bars and a larger panel glowing directly overhead. Metal support beams cut across the ceiling, and a few loose cables still hung untucked.
His head popped up from the office.
"Like the new place? I just bought it."
Pride bled through his voice as he waved them in, the accomplishment practically radiating off him.
"Just...let me wash my hands first..."
He looked confused for half a second then realization hit.
He dragged a chair out from somewhere and patted the cushion.
"A seat for you. Go on."
Sienna hopped up onto the examination table while Ikade took the chair he'd offered, her tail settling neatly across her lap.
The man headed off toward the glassed-in room on the other side and soon the sound of running water and excessive hand-scrubbing filled the space.
"So what..." Sienna asked, curiosity slipping into her voice. "you still with them? Manuel? Mann?"
"Huh? Oh. No, we split up and I moved here." He shrugged lightly. "Now I can finally do what I've wanted to do for a long time."
The answer itself wasn't all that interesting, but Manuel came back over anyway, his sleeves rolled high enough to keep them clear, latex gloves on, a tablet in hand.
A doctor's stool rolled toward him on its own, and he sat at the exact right moment—like he'd done it often enough for his body to stop thinking about it.
"Any dizziness?" Manual asked, already leaning forward. "Blurred vision" Ringing?"
She answered with a shake of her head, then a nod, then another shake.
The next fifteen minutes dragged through the same old routine—nothing dramatic, just plain boring.
Then Manuel snapped his fingers.
Something shot past her at speed before he caught it without even looking up from the screen.
"All right."
He set the tablet down beside himself and uncapped a matte black chip, holding it up between two fingers.
"You know how to use this, right? You got it, what, seven months ago?" His eyes flicked over her. "Though honestly, most of the people who get these are rich. Why'd you even bother? It's not like you need it. You're not quadruple."
Sienna scoffed. "Wow. Look at you, throwing insults now."
"Mm. Cry about it." He tipped the chip slightly toward her. "Go ahead and connect to it, then run the identifier."
She watched as he plugged the chip into a small tablet beside him. He looked up just long enough to speak before tossing another one toward her.
"Don't worry—I keep it in pristine condition."
"Uh huh."
She wrapped her right hand around the side of her head and the second she plugged it in, it took effect.
Lines of information surfaced across her vision, then compressed and slid neatly to the side, the tab fading until it was barely noticeable.
"Where's your recorder at?"
Ikade's ears perked up at once. She set her bag on her lap, placed her phone aside on the armrest, then pulled out the object—stripped of its usual accessories, though the recorder itself remained.
Its exterior blended glossy black with dark amber, smooth and sleek, with a single continuous LED bar running along its length. Set directly in the center was a circle resembling a TV power button, divided by a fine line along one side.
Manuel gently picked it up from Ikade's hands and settling it on his lap.
"Most people go for something more discreet."
Inside, part of it was padded, visible sensors tucked into the material. The whole device was about three-sixteenths of an inch thick and nearly a full inch wide.
"It's not like anyone can see it. I keep it covered when I'm out...besides, I had it before the new ones come out."
Sienna shrugged.
Manuel looked at her without the slightest change in expression. He grabbed the cable attached to his tablet, flipped the recorder around, searched along its edge for a narrow gap, and finally plugged it in.
"In that case, just sit tight for a couple minutes."
He reached under the desk and pulled out a keyboard, connecting it directly to the tablet until it may as well have turned into a laptop.
Manuel let out a long sigh as the next few minutes passed in silence, his fingers moving while he checked whatever it was he needed to check.
"What is it?"
Sienna added.
"It's still a little finicky, but nothing out of the ordinary...still reads just fine."
"Nothing's wrong on either side either, so all things considered, I'd say you're pretty healthy. If it weren't for the fact that there was a spike here...and here...over just a couple of weeks."
He glanced at her.
"Tch...tch...tch...you've got a real cruel habit of nodding at my advice, then doing the exact opposite the second you walk out that door."
Sienna smiled.
"If you keep doing whatever stupid thing you've been doing, you're going to end up a vegetable. Or with half your bones trying to tear their way out of you."
He clicked his tongue again.
"But then again...you won't stop until you've lost everything and wound up on a slab in some morgue."
He spun the recorder again around his finger, still looking.
"I don't think doctors are supposed to say things like that."
Manuel leaned back and exhaled, like he was trying to swallow the dryness in ones throat.
A few seconds later, a soft chime came from his laptop.
Sienna felt something shift loose against her neck, the information tab finally fading into obscurity. She reached for it, then tossed it to him where he caught it one-handed and set it aside.
"Here, try it out."
Manuel tossed it back to her, and she caught it before pressing the open side to her neck. She pushed it in with one motion, the clip at the back snapping shut around her skin. She flinched at the sting.
"It lit up. Alright."
He leaned forward just enough to read the two numbers side by side—six percent and point twenty-seven.
Those same two values appeared at the very top of her vision, next to a red line pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Is there anything else?" He asked, closing the laptop before stretching both arms over his head.
"uhh....my eyesight remember. Its worse in the morning."
Once Sienna finished, she passed the recorder to Ikade, who quietly tucked it away in her bag.
"Ah, right. Wait here, then."
Manuel stood and headed into the glass room, rummaging through a few cabinets before pulling down a bag and filling it with medicine. He checked each label twice before coming back.
When he returned, he set the bag on the table and sat back down.
"They're both in there. Dosage is six-fifty this time, not two-fifty like before. Plus the drops. And another pair of glasses." He gave her a look. "Aren't you glad you don't have to run around the city for this anymore?"
Sienna glanced at the bag to her right, confusion settling across her face.
"...Why'd you raise it that far?"
"Can you hold onto her?"
Ikade blinked, but stood up anyway and wrapped both arms around Sienna's forearm, hugging it tight.
Manuel looked at her for a moment before speaking, an unusual hesitation settling across his face.
"You already have a few in your head."
Sienna's brows pulled together.
"What are you talking about?"
"A░░ir▒▒▒sis."
The word broke apart before it fully landed, distorted enough to mean nothing and everything at once.
It hit like an explosion rippling through water. Ikade's face twisted into instant horror before she could even suck in a full breath.
"What?!" Sienna snapped, trying to wrench herself free. "You're telling me this now? Now? Why the hell wouldn't you start with that?!"
Ikade clung harder at once, her arms tightening around Sienna's sleeve like letting go would somehow make it worse.
Manuel shut his eyes for a moment and pressed his lips into a thin line.
"If you stay on treatment for the rest of your life, stop screwing around, and stop pretending you're made of iron, you'll probably live past a hundred."
"Probably."
"Maybe."
He opened one eye at her.
"And I did tell you."
"When."
"Last time. Five months ago." He gestured vaguely with one hand. "I sent a file. You never replied like always."
Ikade's shoulders dropped. Her feline ears trembled, and when she turned toward Sienna, the look on her face was the kind someone reserved for a half-dead animal still trying to stand.
"If you don't listen." Manuel went on. "Then you're fucked either way, so pick whichever version of that sounds nicer."
"...then don't cut me short. I'm not sure we I'd be able to get more. So just keep me stocked. And throw in some."
She pushed Ikade's face away with one hand, just gently enough to peel her off her sleeve, which was already starting to go damp. Relief moved through her faster than fear at the thought that she would live longer than she had expected.
"O' santo...did you even listen to anything I said?"
Manuel's voice was flat as he stared disapprovingly towards Sienna who began to bicker with Ikade.
"Yeah…gimme a minute to process it...I just need to stop being stressed right?"
She said it like she was talking about some annoying grocery list.
Ikade sniffed again, wiped at the corner of one eye with the back of her hand, then turned and glared at her.
"Stress? Stress?! That's what you got from that?!"
Sienna nudged Ikade's side with her hand.
"Please stop leaking on me."
Ikade smacked her arm weakly, her tail puffing out in pure offense.
Manuel pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long drawn out breath.
"Hahh—just...stay alive will you."
His tone stayed blunt and tired. He got up and headed back into the supply room, grabbing another small box and filling it with different items while checking labels as he worked.
"Oh, by the way."
He didn't even look at them when he said it.
"I'm not gonna ask what you do, but I've got something. I don't want it here any longer and I don't need some fool showing up trying to take it."
He pulled a black case from beneath the wash station.
"Can't keep it here anyway, so it's yours if you want. Been sitting around since before I bought the place."
"I've been trying to get rid of it, but...whatever."
Both Sienna and Ikade went quiet when he unlocked it.
"I don't need fucking marranos in my clinic."
The case rose from the ground like it weighed nothing, while the smaller supply box stayed tucked beneath his other arm. He set the medical box down on the desk first.
Sienna's eyes caught on the item resting in the foam.
Manuel, meanwhile, looked like he was trying not to grin too hard and failing.
He grabbed the laptop, pulled the keyboard loose and turned the screen toward her.
"I'm charging you an arm for it. One hundred twenty-two thousand, five hundred thirty Pesitos."
"You really do sleep well at night."
Still, she paid in full.
"Send it to my address."
Sienna paused, then lifted her wrist.
"Oh."
A picture appeared above the bracelet—a bright blood-red pill floating in the center, flavor text crawling along the top.
"Do you have any of these? I might need more."
Manuel squinted at it.
"T...hengyuan. Yeah, I've got a few."
His eyes flicked back up at her.
"You liked the ones from Yuuye, right?"
Sienna blinked once.
And somehow, they were already back at the entrance to his clinic, the hallway lights buzzing faintly overhead while Manuel leaned against the doorframe, slurping cheap noodles like none of this had happened.
"Now go away. Shoo."
He pointed lazily with the chopsticks.
"And take care of yourself while you're at it. I don't feel like going to another funeral anytime soon."
"You charge like a king and eat like a peasant. Worry about your own life first."
He said nothing back, though his expression darkened just a little while he stepped away from the entrance.
The lights inside shut off one by one.
And the metal gate slammed shut right in her face.