After a moment, Oscar cleared his throat. “Well. We have some things to go over, don’t we, John? Would you join me in my office?”
The two of them left the room. Buck threw Abraham an explain-later look before following behind.
21
The twelve refused to stay hidden, secret. They refused to be property. Together the galvanized stood against the world and declared war upon the Houses.—2099
—from the journals of L.U.C.
“Don’t you need to go with Oscar?” I asked.
Abraham took a deep breath and his eyes, when he finally turned to look at me, were cinnamon red again. Maybe pain. Most likely anger. “You have a special skill of stirring up trouble. Do you know that?”
“I was trying to untrouble the trouble,” I objected. “I signed the contract. I, um . . . ended the fight quick.”
“About that,” he said. “Dirty move, Tilly.”
It was the first time he’d used my nickname. I liked the sound of it from him.
“Yeah, well. I never said I was any good at the tango either.” I picked up my coat and boots. “I suppose someone will let me know my penance?”
“It shouldn’t be too severe,” he said.
I was joking.
He was not.
“They might just write off the whole thing to you being excited and new and untrained. Tomorrow, though, we’ll see that you’re trained for the gathering.”
“Two things,” I said. “Which part of all this am I hoping they’ll write off?”
“Your attitude, breaking rules, breaking arms, breaking protocol, and telling off the heads of the Houses. Not the best start for a galvanized.” He should sound angry about all that. Hell, he should be angry at me for dropping him to his knees. But he just looked . . . I don’t know . . . impressed.
“And the training?” I started up the stairs, and Abraham’s footsteps were soon echoing behind mine.
“You haven’t heard of it?” he said with overly casual interest.
“Has to do with the gathering?”
“Yes. The annual event where all the Houses gather and pose and position for who will wield the most power in the next year. It used to be a time when grievances against the Houses could be heard, but a three-day gathering isn’t nearly long enough to hear all of that. Systems and courts and procedures were put into place to address complaints on an ongoing basis, which allowed the gathering to devolve into a bragging match.”
“What do they brag about?”
“Who had higher profits, gained more assets, had a breakthrough in technology or some other advancement. And, of course, who looks the youngest.”
“Really?”
“It’s become the big race. Youth—or the appearance of it, at least—is a House obsession. The younger the heads of Houses appear to be, the more power they wield. Staying young takes a lot of money, time, and deals between Houses.”
“Oscar doesn’t look all that young. Neither does John Black.”
“Oscar hasn’t ever bothered with vanity. John Black prefers people to underestimate him.”
“All right, so who’s the youngest?”
“It’s a toss-up between Troi Blue, Feye Green, and Aranda Red.”
“What about Welton Yellow?”
