Zoe: Mom. U won’t believe who I just saw

She stared at her phone, waiting for a reply, feeling bad for saying anything at all. She knew how hurt Kristy still was over Ellis, but she'd want to know.

Mom: Who?

Zoe: Dad

She bit her lip, waiting impatiently for a reply.

Mom: Ur kidding me

Zoe: No.

Mom: What's he there 4?

Zoe: HARPO eugenics. That's what the sign says

Mom: Weird. He with anyone?

Zoe looked over at the young woman beside him -Tall, beautiful, brunette.

Zoe: Yeah

Mom: Who?

Zoe hesitated.

Mom: Is she pretty?

No, Zoe wanted to say. She's not even there.

Even after all the years, Kristy had not let Ellis go. He had devoured her soul like a wasting disease. Losing him took her job, her joy, her spark. It took everything. A life ravaged by one man and his lust for money and younger women.

Zoe: She looks like the picture

The halls were starting to empty.

Eugenics? Wasn't that something Hitler was into?

She wondered if she could sneak in without being noticed. Maybe under some table where drinks were served or something.

No, too risky

The building’s heat system started to kick on.

The vents!

“Mraow.”

It was Pumpkin, pawing at her leg. She followed him to a cracked open storage room. There were two vents, one small enough for him to fit through, and one big enough for her near the ceiling. She noticed the smaller one was barely attached. It must’ve been exactly where Pumpkin had come through.

She looked back up at the ceiling vent. “Thanks, Pumpkin,” she said. “This just might work.”

She locked the door behind her, rummaged around the room for a Phillips screwdriver and set up a big later against the wall. She climbed up, unscrewed the vent and climbed in.

The vents were dark and filled with cobwebs. She crawled through, trying not to make too much noise and went back toward the light. Judging from the distance and the soft echo of shuffling feet and the hum of a crowd, she had to be just over the conference room. She looked down into the vent at the chairs around done-up tables below. 

Once the heat shut off, she could hear more clearly. It felt ridiculous, really, being a fly on the wall. What was the point of all this? Was it really something she needed to know?

Her heart nearly stopped when she saw her Ellis. It was only for a second. The young woman held his hand as they walked to a table too far for her to see.

A pain rose in her chest.

Hey dad! Remember me? Your old daughter, Zoe?

He was the only thing close to a father she ever had and God did she miss him sometimes. He might’ve been a bad husband, but he was a good father. There was no shortage of piggyback rides, ice-cream trips, and peaceful walks in woods to cool off the fights at home.

She tried to wipe out the pain and memories and listen, aghast at the words she was hearing. Something about the lower class of society and how they were turning against not only the wealthy but the planet and themselves.

“It is unfortunate to say that the lower half also happen to be some of the more wasteful, unhealthy, unattractive, unintelligent, and by far the most vast,” said a deep voice. "But even more unfortunate is that the winds are now pointing in their very direction. It is both a privilege and a duty to be entrusted to withhold the unseen energies being released to them."

Zoe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. In fact, she barely heard it, the words nothing but a mumbled mess. She started to feel claustrophobic, stuck in the small confines of the dark vent.

Who was saying this? She couldn’t see. She only knew of the name, and that her father was attending. But why? It wasn't like he was super-rich...or was he?

“Ask yourselves," said the voice. "What will be most beneficial for society?"

Something horrible clicked.

Wasteful, unhealthy, unattractive, unintelligent…

It occurred to her that maybe through her father's eyes, she and Kristy were apart of the problem. They had both spent a lot of time battling mental health, weren't the sharpest tacks, and they certainly weren’t made out of money.

But what were they going to do about the problem? That’s what they weren’t saying, but what she feared the most.

“I’d like to stop here and introduce our finest harvester, Ellis Banks.”

She crawled back through the vent, the clamorous echo of hands clapping in her ears. She could’ve stayed and listened to why it was him out of a million people in the world that was here in this hotel, being called the finest harvester, but she couldn’t bear it any longer. Besides, it was almost midnight.

Pumpkin's eyes shined from the end of the vent. “Mrewow.”

“Come on, Pumpkin,” she said. “Almost time to meet the ruler of the world.”