I clear my throat and force a professional smile. “Well, I am ready to see the penthouse. Reid, can we go up?”
Reid points toward the elevator. “The top floor stands ready for you, Miss Zora. I think the apartment will meet your standards.”
I walk toward the elevator. I feel him behind me. All the staff are Betas, but he moves with a strange, quiet precision. He does not sound like a Beta. He sounds like someone who’s used to being in charge of everything he sees.
I step into the elevator. Reid follows, but he doesn’t reach for the control panel. He stops near the wall and gestures to a small, matte-finished sensor glowing with a faint white light. He points to the device on my wrist. “Hold the band near the panel. It carries an encrypted Bluetooth pin that authorizes the lift for the thirteenth floor. Without that, the elevator will remain inactive.”
I lift my right arm and press the black band against the glass. A soft chime rings out, and the thirteenth-floor button glows a cool blue. The metal doors slide together.
Silence settles over the three of us in the small space. This lift moves without the usual rattles or mechanical hums of my old apartment building. I stand near the control panel and keep my eyes on the lens of the phone. My Radiant Life persona requires constant engagement.
“Still with me, everyone?” I smile at the screen. “We are heading up to the thirteenth floor. An entire level is just for my unit. Can you even imagine that?”
Jules shifts the tripod to capture a shot of the polished interior. Her neon pink hair catches the light from the recessed ceiling fixtures. She keeps the lens steady, but her brow furrows as she glances at the phone screen and turns so I can see. The vertical scroll of comments freezes. The viewer count, which sat at thirty-five thousand a second ago, starts to flicker. A spinning loading icon appears in the center of the frame.
Jules taps the side of the tripod as if the physical contact might help the connection. “Uh, Zo. We are losing the signal.”
I keep the smile plastered on my face. “Bear with us, guys. We will be back the second those doors open.”
The screen goes black as the stream drops. I let out a breath, and my shoulders sag. The proximity to Reid makes the back of my neck prickle. He occupies the opposite corner, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. He watches the digital display as we hit the fifth floor, then the sixth.
Reid keeps his eyes on the floor numbers. “We installed signal boosters throughout the building, but elevators always tend to have signal issues, it’s all the metal.”
The car stills. The doors open to reveal a small, private foyer with dark wood panels and a minimalist marble table with a bowl. Jules checks the display. Her eyes light up as the signal bars return to full strength. “We have signal. The feed is back.”
I snap back into character as I step out of the elevator and into the foyer, gesturing toward the open doorway ahead. “And we are back! Sorry about the technical glitch, everyone. It turns out the security here is so good it even blocks cellular data. But look at this entryway.”
The foyer leads into a large, open living area with stone floors and neutral furniture. Windows wrap around the entire exterior, showing the city skyline in high definition. It looks expensive. Like the kind of place reserved for corporate packs or tech moguls. In one corner of the room are the boxes of my stuff that were brought here this morning by a moving company they paid for. I don’t have much, since they told me the place came furnished, I didn’t bring any of that with me. Just the things I can’t live without.
Jules moves past me, sweeping the camera across the living area to show the scale of the room. I walk toward the center of the space. My heels make a sharp sound against the stone. “Okay, everyone. I think we just found the most high-end Omega apartment in the city. Look at that view.”
Reid follows a few paces behind. He points toward the kitchen where a large white marble island sits in the center of the room. “The kitchen contains an induction range and a specialized water filtration system. The fridge stays stocked according to the information provided during your onboarding.”
I walk over and pull open the heavy door of the refrigerator. Rows of glass bottles and fresh containers fill the shelves. I scan the labels. Every item matches my exact shopping habits. My specific brand of unsweetened almond milk sits on the top shelf. The organic blackberries I buy every week fill one of the smaller drawers.
A small knot of confusion forms in my stomach. I never gave the agency a list this detailed. My team handles the general logistics, but they usually just provide basic preferences.
Reid comes over, this is the closest he’s stood next to me since we met. For some reason it makes me nervous, but in a good way, like when a crush notices you for the first time.
What is wrong with me?
He nods toward the fridge. “Our personal shopping concierge pre-stocked the unit using data from your onboarding preferences and social media presence. When you need something, you simply update your requirements on this touchscreen.” He taps the digital display integrated into the refrigerator door. “A member of the Beta staff will be notified and handle the rest.”
I guess that’s how they knew my exact preferences?
I turn back to the camera and keep my smile steady. “It feels like they thought of everything I have ever mentioned on this channel. The safety, food, and support. It is all here.”
The chat moves in a blur of emojis and quick questions. I move toward the back of the unit. The hallway contains soft, recessed lighting that brightens as I approach. “Now for the room most of you wanted to see. The Nest room.”
I push open the double doors to the nesting room.
The space contains a large, raised, cream-colored velvet platform and a massive bed on top. A multitude of pillows covers it and the blush pink sheets look lush; they’re my favorite color, but anyone who has seen my channel knows that.
Shelves built into the walls hold stacks of weighted blankets and pillows in shades of tan and grey. The lighting stays low, set to a warm orange that makes the room feel dim and quiet.
Reid stays in the hallway and doesn’t enter the room. “The platform contains integrated temperature control. You can adjust the heat of the bed through the wall panel or your phone. There’s a remote on the shelf that controls the curtains and color of the lighting as well so you can always be comfortable.”
I sit on the edge of the velvet platform. The fabric feels soothing to touch. I’ve spent years making nests out of old blankets in small bedrooms with thin walls. Looking at this room makes my throat feel tight. I tell myself it is just the professional success of the moment. It feels like someone designed this room to match my style.
