“Where’s Iris?” I asked. Iris was brought in after she had stumbled upon a fight in some dark alley between Victor and three thugs trying to mug him. Vic said he could have taken care of the situation without Iris’s help. I didn’t doubt him; he was a strong guy. But I’m not sure if he would have kept his handsome face. Little did Victor know that he’d lose Lingyi to this enigmatic girl who spoke so few words when we welcomed her into our group.

“She’s out wandering,” Lingyi replied, her pink-glossed lips lifting into a smile. Iris had been an orphan since birth—and even more of a loner than I was. I had a feeling her wandering wasn’t as innocuous as Lingyi made it sound.

“Why don’t you suit up, Zhou?” Arun said. “We need to make sure everything fits and works properly.”

I stared at the you suit in its clear, oval pod set in the corner, like some headless astronaut. The helmet had its own square cubby within the oval pod. My suit was a light gray, lit with dark neon blue geometric designs along the collar and the length of both sleeve edges.

Lingyi went over and punched clear buttons on the pod and the glass slid open without a sound, like double doors. “Normally, you’d suit up at one of Jin Corp’s boutiques. But I didn’t want to give away the fact that this was your first suit. So I thought it was better to give you an orientation in private.”

Victor unhooked the suit and removed it from the glass pod. He unzipped it from the collar, continuing under the arm, then along the length of the left side. I shrugged off my jacket and stared uncertainly at the suit. It symbolized everything you to me, all that I never wanted to be. And here I was, suiting up to pretend I was a rich you boy, just like the rest of them. Pushing these thoughts aside, I carefully stepped into it, fully clothed. Victor zipped me up. I thought I would feel claustrophobic and hot, but the material was light and seemed to mold itself to my body.

Lingyi lifted the helmet from the cubby, proffering it. “Just place it over your head and you’ll hear the mechanism latch at your collar. The minute you’re in helmet, you’re connected to the yous’ com sys. I’ve jammed your suit signal for now, while we’re at headquarters. But other than that, the suit and helmet should still work like normal.”

Taking the glass helmet from her, I brought it over my head and had to fight a sudden wave of panic. Victor noticed my hesitation. “I’d suggest you buy into the suit mentality fast for the role you’re going to play,” he said.