She rolled the stem of a champagne glass between her fingers, head drifting back over the arm of the cramped, blue sofa pressed against the wall barely a foot from the end of Harmony’s bed. “I’m great at my job. I’m going to be promoted very soon. I choose this. It’s my choice. It doesn’t have to mean anything. Not unless I want it to. I was hired by men. The people who promote me are going to be men.”

They sprawled across the room, silent a while, Harmony belly-down on her new bed, while upstairs Hailey and Phuong hollered commands at each other – “Switch to sniper, switch to sniper, YEEEESSSSSSS!”

Finally, Jazzy swung her legs off the sofa, using the momentum to pivot herself upright, depositing the glass down in a single swoop of long, perfect limbs. Without looking at Harmony, she said, “You’ll need to turn more of your upgrades back on if you want to continue at the office. They’ll pretend you won’t, but you will. You’ve already paid for them, so might as well. Forget the stupid shit Jiannis was pumping you with. You made good choices back in the day. You did all right. Come into work Monday looking fabulous, and you’ll change the story. Not the little crying girl, but the woman who came good. That’s what they need to see. You need to make it happen. That’s all. That’s my advice.”

“Thanks, Jazzy.”

“Whatever. Tell any of the boys I helped you and I’ll rinse you.”

“Got it.”

Rising to her feet, a single, uncurling, slightly stooped figure beneath the beams of Harmony’s roof. Jazzy nodded at a distant thought just beyond Harmony’s head, once, then turned away. “Good night, Harmony. Try not to fuck up again.”

Chapter 25

This is Harmony Meads, twenty-eight years old, alone at last in her bedroom in Lambeth, choosing who it is she will be.

Jazzy is right – she’s already paid for the upgrades. The hospital shut most of them down, altered their start-up sequence to prevent glitching, but the list is still there, waiting. She can’t believe how long it is. She can’t believe that this is what her life became.

Several are already running. Dermaglow, Powerful Poise – the hospital left them active for fear of unexpected and distressing consequences if they were shut down after so long in her system. She also re-engaged a couple of minor tweaks, a bit of boost for her hair, something for her teeth. After thinking about it, she didn’t re-engage her anti-toxin, anti-bloating, anti-alcohol screens.

She would simply say no.

This is Harmony, standing in front of her tiny bathroom mirror in the house where the pipes sing like a robotic Christian choir, learning how to smile again.

It’s hard, at first.

Old muscles around her mouth are saggy and slow to respond after so long on Dazzling Smile, and the time she spent without her dental upgrades has made her gums bright red, and oddly swollen.