"Her blood pressure is normal." One nurse said to Jessica.

"Have you checked her heart rate?" Jessica grabbed onto Rory's arm and felt her pulse.

"That's normal as well."

"That's strange. You've been having that bad cough all day. Your fever went down, but you still keep hacking up a dry cough."

"I feel fine, Mrs. Chen." Rory coughed. This was a symptom of her sickness. Just one of many signs in the future about what was to come of her.

"Have you been sleeping well?"

"Yes."

"Eating all your meals and drinking the dandelion root tea the herbal lady gives you?"

"Yes,"

"You're not moving around often, are you?"

"Nope, I'm not."

Jessica sighed. She knew that this dry cough was a sign of her declining state. But without the okay to do surgery, there was nothing more she could do.

"Okay then, keep up the usual routine."

"Yes," Rory nodded and pushed herself off of the examination table. She wanted to finish the final draft of her project. Then all she would have to do is physically replicate it.

"Rory," Jessica stopped her before she left.

"Yes?"

"There's something I have to ask you."

Rory's nerves shook. "Yes?"

"I'm curious. As a Bracketer, what kind of man are you into? Or what kind of guy would you be interested in?"

Rory bit her lip. She thought about it for a moment. She was always sick, so she never really gave it any consideration. She never thought of being in a relationship with any guy.

What kind of guy would want to date or marry a sickly woman? Not even Bracket men would take an interest in her. But that was okay. She accepted that fact a long time ago.

As for a guy, who would she like? Maybe someone like her father. "I guess someone strong and dependable. Someone who cooks for me and helps me when I need it the most. Someone who's always there for me."

Jessica's heart almost split into two. She knew her son was a strong man, and somewhat dependable. But he couldn't cook, and he wasn't always available to help. For Decha, everything came with a price.

Jessica was aware of Decha and Rory's frequent talks.

Over the week, she considered what it would be like to have Rory as a daughter-in-law. Yes, she was a Bracketer, so living in Astell would require a lot of paperwork. There was a new law put in place that would work for the two.

Jessica thought they would complement each other well. She was never a big fan of the program that required Generals to meet with a set match. Jessica didn't want Decha to marry a snobby rich Astellian girl, only for her to prance her way around their house acting high and mighty.

It didn't help that Decha would be a most popular candidate. Women would fight to get a taste of him. He was a high-rank general with many luxury accommodations. Gold diggers would harass him if Jessica didn't stop it.

Decha wasn't passionate. Jessica hated that about him. He did everything with the same emotionless glare. It was hard to read him.

Rory was very emotional. Jessica liked that about her. She reacted to things in ways that made Jessica laugh.

Jessica thought Rory would be a great cure for Decha's stoic behavior. But she had to find out if Rory was interested or open to courting an Astellian man. "What do you think of my son, Decha?"

"N96?"

"Yes."

"I think he's... he has good intentions. He is a hard worker. I think he's very good at what he does."

"Do you think he's marriage material?"

"Of course! Surely, Astellian women would be interested in him. The only thing I worried about was the scar on his face. I'm not sure how that will affect his role in the Program."

Jessica grumbled at her response. Along with treating Rory, she was going to have to make it a mission to get Decha and Rory married.

Jessica didn't think Decha was the type to marry an Astellian anyway. He wasn't closed-minded like other Astellians were. She raised him better than that.

There was a chance that Decha could become interested in Rory. She just had to find out what type of woman he would be interested in.

"Could you help me take his lunch to him?"

"Um, okay." Rory nodded. Jessica fixed two trays, one with fruits and a sandwich stuffed with vegetables and the other with two drinks. One was fruit juice and the other was water.

Rory followed Jessica up the stairs carefully, distracted by the smell of the food. Her stomach started to growl.

Jessica led her through the double doors that opened to a grand hallway. They neared the sounds of laughing and entered a room on the left.

Decha and Avon were inside, smiling and laughing at each other while playing a board game. When Rory saw Decha's genuine smile, she almost melted. He looked so relaxed with Avon. He looked so at ease.

"Decha," Jessica cleared her throat. "Lunch is ready. Rory put it over there on the table."

"Roree!" Avon hopped up and clapped his hands. He felt his way around the couch and chairs until he neared her.

"Hi, Avon— Woah!" Rory almost lost her balance and dropped the tray when Avon tackled her legs. He followed the sound of her greeting and found her.

"Roree come play with me!"

"Okay..." Rory smiled.

"This is my brother, Decha. He's a General." Avon felt his way back over to Decha and tapped on his leg.

"It's nice to meet you." Rory played along but kept her eyes on the tray of food. She didn't want to drop it. Decha took it from her and shoved the sandwich into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"Avon, come with mommy for a bit."

"I wanna play with Decha." Avon frowned.

"Come play with Mommy for a bit. You'll get to play with him later." Jessica grabbed Avon's small hand and led him out of the room. "Oh, Rory, when he's finished, bring the trays back down to the kitchen for me. Okay? Thanks!"

"I uh—" Rory was interrupted by the door shutting. She stood there awkwardly, wondering if she was supposed to wait for Decha to finish eating. She turned around to look at him, and the first thing she noticed was the decorations in the room.

There were so many weapons and pictures. One that caught her attention was a younger version of him. "Ha! Is this you?" Rory grabbed the frame to get a closer look.

Decha nodded, and a soft giggle escaped Rory. "You were so chubby!" He was. The Decha now and the one in the photo were entirely different. Younger Decha was more round and plump, and his black hair was super short.

But Decha in the same vicinity as her was tall and lean. His hair length reached right below his ears. He grew well out of his baby fat. "Is this a hydroblaster!? It's one of the earlier versions similar to its prototype!" Rory reached for the weapon on the shelf and brought it closer to her.

"Wow... this is amazing! I've only seen it in books. The design is sleek, smooth, and small. But the trigger is placed inconveniently."

"You know a bit about weapons?" Decha tilted his head back to make sure she was holding it right.

"Not entirely. Only for Astellian weapons. I've read a lot of articles about the new improvements. But I'm a huge fan of the ones that aren't extremely harmful. Instead of energy beams, this one uses a great amount of force with water. It's similar to pressure washing. Have you used this one before?"

"They're deemed as useless now. If it doesn't cause harm, we don't get our rules across."

"This thing can still cause harm. It just won't kill a person."

"That's exactly why it's deemed useless." Decha shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth.

"If you want, I can construct a thermally powered controller and attach it to the sides. This way it can make using it more convenient. All you'd have to do is rotate a dial with your finger. Or I can create a similar design of this blaster that comes with one!"

"You want to create a weapon?" Decha scoffed and grabbed it from her. "You know you need a license to do that."

"It's not creating an official weapon. I just want to test it out. And only you would use it."

Decha placed the gun back on the shelf and glared at her. She wanted to create a weapon for him. How cute. Yes, he thought it was cute. "You still need a license."

"Where do I get one?"

"After registering as a Sector A resident, you can apply for one through the council."

"Oh..." Rory groaned.

"I'm not a blaster kind of guy anyways. Don't worry about it."

"What's your specialty?"

"Hand-to-hand combat." Decha stopped himself. Why was he giving her so much information? When had he become so open?

"You gained all those pins from doing hand-to-hand combat?" Rory gasped.

"Yes."

That meant he was exceptional at physical agility and strength. She was amazed. "Hand-to-hand strategy requires the ability to climb and jump a lot, right?"

"Right." Decha nodded. "How do you know that information? Those kinds of things aren't mentioned in our history books."

"My father told me."

"Your father?"

"He used to tell me all about the Generals. Sector B was full of them. He was always respectful to them and made sure he taught me to respect their positions."

"Your father seems to know a lot about us for a Bracketer."

"Of course!" Rory smiled. "He looked up to you guys. You are the ones protecting the Sector. He just has a difficult way of expressing that."

The problem with Rory's statement was that her father was a Bracketer. Even if he looked up to Generals, no one knew the details of the strategies and categories of their training.

"Interesting."

"Can I see your hands?"

".... Why?"

Rory grabbed one of his arms without his permission and looked them over. His hands were calloused and rough, but warm. "You climb often, I can tell." An idea popped up in her mind. "I can make you a pair of gloves, ones that have a firm grip for rocky walls or brick. And I bet you're very flexible, so somersaults aren't an issue."

"Hold on," Decha snorted. "You've never seen my skills."

"I don't have to. Your body tells a story."

"Do they? What is my story then?"

"Well," Rory began her rambling. "Your shoulders and grip are firm, meaning that you have a heavy weight to carry. Your arms and legs are this way because of your constant dodging, you encounter a lot of enemies. But your body is warm because you have to endure harsh weather often. It's like your body is protecting itself." Rory continued and pressed against his abdomen. "This tells me you do a lot of rolling, another way of avoiding enemies hits."

Her fingers grazed up his torso and touched one of the bruises he earned from the battle with POYO a few days before. Her touching caused him to flinch forward.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine." Decha straightened himself.

"I'll make your gloves. When it's finished, you'll be able to notice the difference!" Rory was embarrassed. Why didn't he stop her from touching him? She felt like dying sooner. The humiliation was gonna kill her before her disease did.

"Rory, wait," Decha stopped her before she left the room. "Get dressed."

"Huh?"

"Change your clothes."

"Why—"

"Because I'm taking you out."

"Where—"

"If you ask another question, you won't be going anywhere."

"Okay." Rory quickly squeaked and left in a hurry. Decha stood at the frame of the door and began studying his hands. She wasn't as crazy as she looked, is what he thought. For a Bracketer, she was very observant.

But there had to be a reason why.

~~~

Rory was cold. It was much colder in Sector A than it was in Sector B. Sector B had winter but the temperature always stayed easy to bare. However, in Sector A, she felt like her fingers were going to fall off.

She wasn't sure where Decha was taking her. But she knew she wanted to go back to the mansion. It was warmer in there. Rory wasn't used to seeing her breath come out as smoke. That was unfamiliar to her, but it intrigued her.

When she found out that the air was turning her heavy breaths into fog clouds, she kept playing with the idea. She started panting, sounding like a dog lapping up water, and tried catching her breath with her hands.

Decha wasn't too far ahead of her. It was freezing, but fortunately, it wasn't snowing. There weren't enough clouds in the sky for there to be snow.

The two remained quiet. Rory refused to ask questions, thinking that Decha would scold her. They were walking on a street surrounded by skyscrapers. It was quiet on this side, however, Decha was leading her toward a more open and social space.

Bright flowing lights peeked around the buildings and reflected off the thick glass. The lighting looked familiar, but Rory paid no mind. That was until she followed Decha around one of the large buildings.

Ahead of her was an open plaza that was full of Astellians. Neon-colored lights were hanging all around the area. They were wrapped around the trees, the signs, and the stalls.

Rory stopped when she smelled something delicious. Something was being fried in fresh oil. It smelled similar to the street snacks in the Brackets. In the center was a small market for food and accessories. Just seeing the food made Rory hungry.

Some of the lights were activated by the soft music playing. There was a live band playing, something she'd never seen in the Brackets.

Some Astellians were dressed in their traditional clothes. No doubt they had layers underneath. The women wore a long slim gown with wide silky sleeves. The men wore robes with shorter sleeves and tight belts around their waists.

The women wore their hair pulled back into stylist ponytails or buns, while the men had their hair styled and brushed back with oil or gel.

While the men's clothes were sleeker, the women had flowy gowns that stopped right above their ankles. All wore slim boots, coated with a thermal heating fabric on the inside.

"Where is this place?" Rory looked around in awe.

"The Food Festival," Decha answered in a dull tone.

"Is this where I saw all those lights? It's beautiful!"

"Wear this," Decha handed Rory a scarf.

"Oh, is it to cover my face?" Rory frowned, realizing that she was probably the only Bracketer around so many Astellians. It made sense that he wanted her to hide. They'd probably try and attack her, and Decha's reputation could be tarnished for bringing a refugee to their event.

"It's cold. Wrap it around your neck and ears. I can't risk your immune system catching anything." Decha shook the scarf to make it wider.

Then he pulled the cloth around her, not realizing that he stepped closer to her in the process. He leaned over, and tucked and tied the scarf securely to make sure she was ready to face the cold air.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Decha snickered. "I barely feel any cold. The Outside has harsher weather." Decha gestured for her to follow him. "Have you heard about the Food Festival before?"

"No,"

"There's a first for everything. I haven't been in years, so I'm not sure what's changed. But typically you come to these festivals to enjoy the light show or to enjoy our delicacies. The lights represent our beginning. Back when Astell was established, it was hard to live here because of the lack of consistent power." Decha walked with Rory up a flight of stairs that led to a more secluded patio that was easy to see the entire plaza.

"At that time, Astell was developing a kind of technology that uses the energy of the land to generate electricity to brighten the entire Sector. There are these small seeds, we aren't sure where they come from, but they store power inside of them. They're found in the dirt, and they glow in the dark."

"Glowing seeds?"

"Yep." Decha nodded. "We've been using those seeds to make energy for everything here. It's hard to maintain them. On occasion, they grow into flowers that produce orbs of light that pretty much power up the largest of the sector's companies. Although the orb is no bigger than my palms, it lasts for about 20 years."

"That's so cool. You guys are using the natural resources of the land to help improve. I assume finding these seeds are done safely?"

"Absolutely. The Sector prides itself on keeping our roads clean and resources organized. Whenever those seeds are found, Astellian people plant them. They're hard to maintain, but each orb counts as a way to keep our cities bright."

"Have you ever seen one of them? The plants I mean."

"I have."

"How are they hard to maintain?"

"Our water is too heavy for them to handle."

"Have you tried planting them?"

"No. They're very expensive to keep up."

"How expensive?"

"Very." Decha chuckled softly. "I don't have the time to plant anything. I work too often."

"I think it would be cool to see. Flowers are hard to come by in the Brackets. I can only imagine a plant growing into a flower that produces pure power. Man, I'd love to see the result."

Decha breathed softly in response. She wanted to see one of Astell's prized plants. He looked over at one of the Stalls and wondered if planting and waiting for it to grow would motivate Rory to keep living.

The man operating one of them was selling the seeds and pots for them. They were going to cost around 5,000 Tekels, but as wealthy as Decha was, it wouldn't be a problem.

Rory looked around and noticed that a lot of the people attending the festival were couples. The colors of the gowns they wore matched. She didn't mind it. The sight was refreshing to see and intrigued her.

She was excited just to be experiencing a part of their culture in person. Rather than asking questions all the time, she could finally see it for herself. "N96, the clothes they're wearing, is it a requirement for festivals?"

"No."

"Do you own one of those fancy robes?"

"I do." Decha pressed his lips together. "But I don't wear it."

"Oddly, I can't imagine you ever wearing it."

"What do you mean?"

"It just doesn't seem like your style."

"How so?"

"I'm used to seeing you dressed in your uniform. I think you look better in black. It matches your eyes. Those robes look baggy. They make all the men look like they're flying in mid-air."

Decha laughed, and it made Rory smile. It wasn't his usual soft chuckle. Finally, she managed to make him smile genuinely. Decha's deep and hearty ha's simmered down. "I can't say you're wrong. On occasion, I'm required to wear it. But for the most part, I just don't."

Decha noticed the way Rory was eyeing him. He wasn't familiar with the emotion in her eyes. If only Amir were here to help decipher. "What?"

"... I like seeing your smile. It's different."

Decha felt flustered. He wasn't sure how to react to her compliment.

"You should smile more often."

"In my line of work, it's not easy to."

"What are the things that make you happy?"

"Work."

"Besides that." Rory rolled her eyes and nudged his arm playfully. Decha swallowed the lump in his throat. He'd never been asked that before. He had an answer, but he wasn't sure if he should say it.

"Avon," Decha gritted his teeth.

"Your brother?"

"I want him to enjoy a better life. So knowing that he's safe makes me happy."