Providence

Right to Privacy

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

--- UN General Assembly, 1948, Universal declaration of human rights (217 [III] A). Paris. Art. 12

The second staircase is just as cramped as the first. Windows are very sparse, it takes about a five-minute walk to go from one window to the next. The view from the windows is rather disappointing, as the city below is barely visible. It just looked like a faint orange glow against a purple-red sky.

The faint tapping of metal on stone breaks Erin free from her pondering. Gwen grimaces and she bites her lip. Blood seems to have drained from her face, she is even paler than usual. She looks grey like a corpse. Erin is worried. The integrity booster does heal all wounds, but it does not fix blood loss.

Despite her injuries, Gwen stumbles forward, holding Erin's shoulder. She is easily able to match the pace. Erin is surprised to see how easily Gwen walks with the makeshift prosthetic. Gwen is constantly out of breath, but she is making progress nevertheless.

"What do you think the second trial will be?" Sadie asks.

"I don't know, and I can only dread to think how harsh it will be."

Sadie shakes her head. "If you wouldn't have given away our food, it would have been peanuts."

Erin sighs. "To be honest, I should have just immediately stabbed the Robot."

Sadie suddenly looks worried. "What if the angels already found out we destroyed the robot? And they just murder us the moment we set foot in Elysium. Or the second robot just smites us where we stand?"

"We'll know soon enough. I think we are close to the second level." As Erin says those words, a second landing reveals itself behind the bend. The girls walk towards it, Gwen's metal leg tapping loudly on the ground.

"Wait," Gwen pants. "I need a moment."

Gwen slowly sits down on the topmost step, breathing heavily. She removes a bottle of water from her belt and tries to take a sip. She sighs.

"Damnit, my bottle is empty."

Erin hands her her own bottle. "Here, take mine."

Gwen grabs the bottle and eagerly drinks from it. She then tries to hand the bottle back to Erin, but Erin stops her.

"Just keep the bottle, Gwen," Erin says.

Gwen sighs. "But you have barely drunk from it. You must be thirsty."

Gwen is right, Erin is very thirsty. She feels her dry tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. But that doesn't matter now. She shakes her head. "I will be fine, you need it more than me."

Gwen hesitantly holds the bottle. "If you say so." She takes another swig. Some colour returns to her face. "Are you sure? The bottle was almost filled. Have you not drunk any water since we left the apartment? We climbed so many stairs."

Erin shakes her head. "You need the water, Gwen. Not me."

Sadie takes her bottle from her belt. "Take at least some of my water then." She hands it to Erin.

"What happened to never sharing with the less privileged?" Erin asks.

Sadie shrugs. "Do you want some water or not?"

Erin takes the bottle, and takes a small sip, before giving the bottle back. "Thank you, Sadie."

"No problem," Sadie says, as she straps her bottle back to her belt.