My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps echoing off the stone floor. The medic with my water, I thought with relief. But a moment later, the tall forms of Gerouin Melusin and Geros Antos strode into view through the clear glass wall to the hallway. The medic trailed deferentially behind them, her smile visibly strained now. It wasn’t often that the leaders of our citidome interacted directly with anyone of the lower castes. To most, the geroi were like gods on a pedestal—distant and untouchable. Benevolent yet firm, judging yet forgiving. They could make one’s life or destroy it; but though they were strict, I’d never known them to be anything but fair. The geroi were more than just our leaders, they were the mother and father to all in Hope Renewed.

And biological parents to one person. Me.

Ceilos quickly stood and inclined his head, three fingers to his brow. My legs still felt too numb to rise myself, but I saluted from the bed.

“Hello, Ceilos,” Melusin said as she entered the room. “And Nadin, I’m relieved to see that you are awake and seem to be doing well.” Her face was serene, but her eyes were cold as they fell over me. I looked down at the sterile white sheet over my legs. She would never show it in front of an esotoin like the medic, but I could feel her displeasure, sharp as a knife.

“The medic informs us that you should recover quickly. That’s marvelous news, isn’t it, Ceilos?”

“Hm? Oh, yes. Marvelous.”

“Nadin, when you are feeling well enough, Antos and I would like to speak with you in private,” Melusin said.

I swallowed. “I’m well enough now.”

With just a look from Antos, the medic scrambled out the door. Ceilos followed her. Through the glass, I saw the medic put a hand to her earpiece. A moment later, the clear glass of the walls darkened, obscuring the view to the hallway. The dimmed hospital room looked eerie, lit only by the blue and green phosphates embedded in the one natural cavern wall and stone ceiling of the room.

Once the echoes of the medic’s and Ceilos’ footsteps had faded into silence, Melusin turned to face me, her expression grave. “Nadin, who is he?” Her voice had lost all of its pleasantness.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Who is who?”

“The boy you met outside.”

“I… I don’t know. I didn’t meet him outside, I just saw him. He’d fallen.”

Melusin looked as though she didn’t believe me, but there would have been no point in lying. The System would alert her immediately if I did.

After a long moment of silence, I said, “Gerouin, I couldn’t just leave him—”