“Futhermucker—!” Cassie shouted. The alarm cut. Cans clanked and equipment clattered before the door finally slid open.

Cass’s tight dark curls stuck out at crazy angles, popping out from the programming visor strapped to her forehead. “What?” She flipped the goggles up, revealing deep purple bags that almost matched the color of her smoky, violet eyes.

The only light inside glinted from her four comp monitors, but it was more than enough for my modded eyes to pick up the chaos. Piles of rubble—empty energy bev pouches, foil takeout wrappers, and wrinkled clothes—obscured the carpet and I almost stepped back from the smell of stale food and sweat. “How long have you been in here?”

“Asks the guy who lives at his lab?” Cassie rubbed her eyes. Her cheeks were slightly hollowed. She’d lost weight. As much as three quarters of a kilogram compared with the last time I’d seen her six days ago. “What’d you want, Tair?”

“To escort you to a party at the senate. In an hour.”

“How about never?” She pressed a button to close the door panel, but I slipped my foot over the threshold.

A sensor chirped. It wouldn’t close when it was blocked. “I wasn’t planning on it either.”

“Then don’t go.” She started punching something into the door unit. She’d have the safety sensor disabled in thirty. “Or do you have fun sucking up to Mom and Dad’s sleazy Seligo friends?”

“Hardly.”

“Then why are we having this talk?” Cass asked, but her fingers paused, saving my foot for a few more seconds.

“Because the food will be amazing?” Nothing else there would tempt her.

“I’m not selling my soul for canapés. And hello?” She raised her arm and pointed to her conspicuously bare skin. “Why am I invited?”

Her lack of Helix was a constant embarrassment to our parents. As the children of two senators, much was expected of us. There’d been a minor scandal when she dropped out of academy. How could a child genetically programmed to be the best possibly fail like that?

It made me want to choke the ones dealing the gossip.

Cass could qualify for her Green Helix tattoo in a second if she cared. The girl was a screaming tech genius, except she programmed games instead of pursuing a “more worthy” field like genetics, medicine, or data analysis.

In our house, that was almost worse than going without a Helix. “They just want to play the smiling family card. I don’t mind pretending for a few hours.”

“Why?” Cass started in on the door panel again.

I pushed into the room before my toes got severed. A good question. It would be easier to blow the event off, but I couldn’t do that regardless of how preferable it sounded. “You know why.”

“Do I?”