Improved

10. Breaking News

10. Breaking News

           The division system is a simple way of organizing living spaces, as well as an effective method of separating different classes within the same city. It works by filling one neighborhood with identical skyscrapers, and then dividing those skyscrapers into a certain number of homes, called “divisions.” A building with three homes is called a three-division, one with four is called a four-division, and so on. The fewer divisions there are in a building, the larger those divisions will be…and, consequently, the more expensive they will be.

            Being a relatively prominent genitech and owning four imps brings in good money, so Felix lives in the comfort of a four-division. All of his imps have their own rooms, except for Cade and Ema, who share living space out of personal choice rather than necessity. After being somewhat shaken up by the maybe-accident they witnessed on the way home, they have all retreated into their normal routines of winding down for the evening, relaxing themselves before bed.

            Lai is curled up in her favorite saucer chair, engrossed in a new book that she picked up from the Archives before leaving Pristine Labs for the day. Alec is seated in an old armchair in his room, both eyes closed (although the eyelid of the damaged one hangs crookedly), in an almost meditative state. Cade is quietly arranging his collection of knickknacks and chewing over his situation with Ema.

            Felix is in the living room; the spectrovision is on, but its volume has been turned down so that he can focus on Ema, who is seated on the couch beside him. She is currently in full psychologist mode, and her stoic, concerned expression makes her look like an actress in a melodramatic soap opera.

            “Look, you have to face the facts, Felix,” she says carefully. “In rom-coms, odd people are considered to be ‘quirky and desirable,’ but in real life that’s a sign of a personality disorder. And you can’t deny that Lai is showing multiple signs.”

            “These days, they have a ‘personality disorder’ for every behavior that’s even slightly weird,” answers Felix dismissively. “And besides, no imp has ever developed a personality disorder.”

            “There’s a first time for everything. And this isn’t just one strange behavior, it’s a lot of them, and constantly. Bizarre pattern of interests…”

            “Oh, so being creative now means you’re mentally ill?”

            “Self-imposed social isolation…”

            “So she’s not a people person, so what? We can’t all be socialites.”

            “Obsessions with inconsequential subject matter…”

            “Her fixation with old-fashioned stuff is just a hobby, not an obsession.”

            “And, of course, complete disinterest with the real world in favor of an internal fantasy realm.”

            Felix huffs. “Look, it didn’t take long for humans to start getting artistic, Ema. It was only a matter of time before imps got in on it too! Lai may be different, but there’s nothing wrong with her.”

            “Felix, you’re not getting it!” Ema insists. “Imps are made to work. Even when we have other interests besides our jobs – something that I support wholeheartedly – work still takes top priority. But Lai was commissioned ten years ago, and she still hasn’t shown any interest in her career whatsoever!” Her brown eyes narrow challengingly. “That’s highly abnormal…and, of course, Lai already has a size defect. Who’s to say that a glitch in her genetics didn’t cause other problems?”