A quick hovertaxi trip later and they were entering the lobby on the 90th floor of their new apartment building. The lobby appeared narrow at first. A large security desk took up most of the space with a narrow strip of walkway that led down a hall and around a corner. A closed door sat to the right and left, but that was all they could see. Still, it was pleasantly lit and meticulously cleaned. Two people sat in the security vestibule, one of which, an elderly woman of indiscernible age, looked up. She wore a nametag that said Okamoto Emiko, and, smiling as they approached, said “You must be the Patersons. Welcome to Horai Estates.”

  “Er, hi. Yes. I’m Ms. Paterson,” she said, stepping forward. Reaching back, she slid her hand across the back of Malcolm’s head guiding him to step forward, “And this is my son. Malcolm.”

  “A pleasure,” she said, beaming with a warm smile. “I am Mrs. Okamoto, and beside me,” she said, gesturing to the tall dark man still engrossed in a holoscreen in front of him, “Is Mr. Benjamin Bradley. He will be escorting you shortly through the entry floor and touring your apartment with you.” Bradley looked up, nodded curtly, and resumed his deliberation of the screen in front of him.

  “I am just going to need to get you processed,” she said. What followed was a brief exchange of identifiers, forms, scans and signatures, all of which mattered little to Malcolm as he looked around the Spartan entryway.

  Malcolm sidled over to Bradley and, in that manner that all eleven year old boys do, of jumping right into a conversation with someone regardless of their distraction asked, “Why are we on the 90th floor? Shouldn’t we have started on the ground floor, like normal?”

  “Ninety kinda the ground floor, kid,” he said, not looking up from his work. “Maybe even a bit lower than normal in this district, but Horai is one of the smaller buildings. The first eighty-nine floors of this building are dedicated to businesses, offices, and shops. You can practically get anything you want without ever leaving the building. Ninety up to a hundred, that’s all your amenities. Your personal gyms, lounges, entertainment, private cafeterias, and shops that only residents get access to. After that it’s all apartments up to two hundred.”

  This barrage of information felt as if it dropped suddenly on Malcolm like a ton of bricks. He was starting to really feel how much different his life was going to be from the first floor two bedroom apartment he’d had back in Hackensack. “What if I wanted to ride my bike to a friend's house?”

  At this, Benjamin looked up, face scrunched in bemusement, but upon seeing Malcolm, he softened to something a bit more understanding. “Sorry kid. Bikes aren’t much of a thing here. If you need to get to another tower, you use your badge.” At this, he actually reached over toward Mrs. Okamoto’s stack and pulled a sliver of filament away from a color coded stack.

  “Here, this one’s yours,” he said, letting the tip of the thread slide touch the surface of a blank watch face. The thread seemed to dissolve into the watch, its evaporating edge pixelating out into the air around it. Once the thread fully dissolved, the watch face lit up. Handing the watch over to Malcolm, he said, “This is temporary. You can choose your receptacle later if you wish, but for now this will get you into all your amenities, your apartment, store your credit and connect you to Shorai services including transportation. I can show you how to work it…”

  “Thanks!” Malcolm said, interrupting, “But I can set it up, and browse through the options on my own.” Worrying that he was coming off as rude, he added, “But thank you. Mr.” he said, pausing.

  “Bradley. Benjamin Bradley. But you can just call me Bradley. No one calls me Benjamin, or mister.”

  “Thanks, Bradley.” He looked at the watch surface as it flowed through various languages, encouraging him to begin the setup process.

  Malcolm looked over at his mother, seeing her sliding what was presumably her own string of filament into the edge of the fancy new glasses she’d received just before they started packing for Shorai City. “Bradley, dear?” Mrs. Okamoto asked in a sweet voice, “Could you take this nice young lady, and the young gentleman to their new apartment please, sweetie?”

  “Of course, Auntie Emiko,” he said, bobbing his head slightly. Bradley walked to a small panel that opened up in front of him and gestured down the hallway, inviting them to proceed. Zoe grabbed a stack of documents, and seeing her hands full, Malcolm reached out, touching the strap of her carryon, letting her know he was okay to take the load from her. As he settled her pack on the opposite shoulder of his own bag, Mrs. Okamoto gave him a sly wink, to which he responded with a smile, before following his mother and Bradley down the hall and around the corner.

  ???

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Bradley led Zoe and Malcolm through the amenities and they truly were impressive. Nice seating areas, multiple gardens with open air alcoves were on the first floor they passed. While there were elevators that would take them directly to their apartment, Bradley toured multiple floors by taking them up escalators to each of the landings. The first three floors all appeared to be dedicated to lounges, eateries, and entertainment nooks. Several floors after that were dedicated to gym spaces, with multiple sports options, some of which Malcolm had never even seen. The last few floors before the residences began were all dedicated to office spaces that residents could use to work from home or conduct business. These all seemed to be very busy.

  “There’s so many people here,” Malcolm wondered aloud, “How is it that the entrance was so small? We didn’t see anyone else passing through security. With so many people here, how did Auntie Emiko recognize us?”

  “Ah, well,” Bradley started, giving Malcolm an assessing look, “First, I’d say, that for now you should stick to calling her Mrs. Okamoto. She’s a bit of a stickler to that, and I tend to get away with a bit more casual familiarity than most do. To answer your question though, while you’re seeing the communal spaces right now, the standard residents typically enter through other more populated areas. Families employed by Roboto Corp, however, have been granted a bit more,” he paused a moment searching for the right way to say it, “secured access to their apartments. It’s a bit more posh, a touch more secure. The door on the right of where you walked in would have taken you to private elevators, whereas the elevators that can reach your floors from this space require residential services for clearance.”

  “Mom, are you a bigwig?”

  “Eh,” she responded sheepishly, not fully making eye contact. “I’d say I’m upper middle wig at best.”

  “We used to barely have any wig at all,” Malcolm mock whispered to Bradley conspiratorially, “Practically bald in fact. No offense.”

  “I’m not bald, I shave my head,” Bradley said in a flat tone.

  “Oh, yes. Mm’hm.”

  ???

  A not so quick seventy floor ride later, and the elevator opened up to their apartment floor. Bradley led them to their apartment, and Zoe opened the door. The apartment was impressive. The front door opened up right into a large kitchen already full of amenities, and sparkling appliances. The space continued on toward a large dining room table, which in turn opened up to an even larger central family space. There was no furniture as of yet, in the living room, but it was lovely nonetheless.

  Malcolm had visited some homes with high vaulted ceilings, and tiny white furniture. It always felt like stepping into a museum, and while grand, it didn’t feel like a place he would ever want to live. This was not that. The ceilings were high, but not so high that the space felt empty. The rich tones and thick carpeting made the space feel almost cozy, if you could ignore the width of the space. And it had little alcoves with bookshelves. Real bookshelves for real books!

  Two hallways branched off from the main room. To the left were numerous utility style rooms, a bathroom, exercise room, and an office space, complete with desk and Roboto Corp PC already installed. The right hallway led to three bedrooms, each of them with their very own large walk in closets and full bathroom.

  The most impressive part of the large space was the far wall. It appeared to be glass from floor to ceiling but beyond that was a large balcony with an incredible view of the city laid out before them. Bradley approached the space and two things happened as he neared. A holographic panel appeared before him providing options to dim, fog, or otherwise obscure the glass surface, while a portal irised open allowing him to step outside.

  Malcolm followed him out and felt a sense of vertigo as he walked toward an apparent edge with no railing, or half wall to be seen. He felt odd and looked around at the space. He felt a breeze, but knowing how high they were, he felt he should have been colder. “You noticed it, didn’t you?” Bradley said to him, and he stood there, bemused.

  “Are we still inside? It kind of feels like we’re somehow in the middle. The temperature is weird, and it doesn’t make sense to have a big open platform that yawns out into empty air. That wouldn’t be safe.”

  “You’re right,” Bradley confirmed, nodding, and as he moved toward the edge himself, he pressed on an invisible surface that bent and warped, shining with a blue light that spiderwebbed out into a pixelated slurry. “Force field. It gives you the feel of the outdoors, without the inconvenience of being so high up that you’d be gasping for oxygen.”

  Zoe nodded, and walked around the space, seemingly more interested in the cushions for the outdoor dining setting. “Mr. Bradley, do you know when our possessions will arrive?” she asked, “We’re packed light, and I’d really like to start getting things unpacked.”

  “The boxes have already arrived and are downstairs. A team will be bringing things up shortly, don’t you worry ma’am.”

  A beeping noise came from inside the apartment. Zoe scrunched up her face looking back into it to see what the source was when Bradley stated, “That would be the PC in the office, ma’am. I believe you’re receiving a call.”

  “Oh, shoot. Mal, go pick your room buddy, and do your best to get settled in. Mommy has to take a call from work.”

  Bradley mouthed “Mommy?” silently to Malcolm with a big playfully mocking smile that showed his perfect teeth. Malcolm only shrugged and walked past him into the apartment. Bradley followed shortly after, smiling to himself.

  Dimming the space even further to give the family more privacy, he turned to Malcolm. “If there is anything you need, the concierge desk can be reached from that panel over there,” he said, pointing at a panel near the massive refrigerator. “That’s where you can also purchase furniture from a catalogue provided by Roboto Corp. Any questions?”

  Malcolm shrugged again. “Nope. I’ll hit up my bedroom. Thanks for showing us around, Bradley.”

  Bradley was about to speak when Zoe walked back into the main space. “I’m sorry kiddo, no time to get settled in just yet. My office called. We have to go to work!”