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“I’ll speak to him.”

“I can ask on your behalf,” she added quickly.

“That’s alright. I’ll go.”

Eira followed me into the corridor. “He may be working.”

“Then I’ll be quick.”

We hadn’t gone into his office during our tour, and I couldn’t remember which door was his, but Ada pointed us in the right direction.

I knocked on the dark wooden door and opened it almost straight away.

Darius and Leon looked up from the far end of an enormous stone table, and I stopped just inside.

I’d expected a desk, a few chairs and some technology I wouldn’t understand. Instead, the room was huge, with windows running almost from floor to ceiling along the far wall. Through them, I could see buildings and gardens set into the mountain at different levels, with bridges crossing the open spaces between them. Lights followed distant walkways so far into the mountain that I couldn’t see where the city ended.

The pale stone table ran through the middle of the room and could easily have seated twenty people. Long stone benches followed either side, with tall backs and cushions in blues, greys and creams. Bookcases covered most of the remaining walls.

Another door sat between the shelves, fitted so neatly into the wall that I almost missed it.

Leon and Darius had spread their work across opposite ends of the table. Leon had a broad sheet of pale-blue light hovering where a computer monitor would’ve been back home, with columns of numbers moving beside graphs and tables.

Darius had several smaller holograms showing security footage of corridors, entrances and buildings I didn’t recognise. None looked like any part of the apartment. He held a thin pad in one hand and checked it against the images.

I glanced back at the cushioned benches. With that view and all those books, I could easily spend hours in here.

“Sweetheart.” Leon lowered the paper in his hand as Darius turned towards me.

“Hi. Are you busy?” I walked closer with Eira beside me.

“I am. Is there something you need?” Leon asked.

“Permission, I think. I’m not really sure.”

I reached the end of the table and rested my hands on the stone.

“I’m bored, and I know that probably sounds rude when you’re both working so hard, but I need to get out of the house.”

“You don’t require our permission to leave the house, sweetheart.”

I smiled. “So I can go?”

“Of course.”

“You will need security,” Darius said.

“That’s fine. Can they be ready soon?”

“They can be ready as soon as you require them.”

I glanced at the doors. “Where are they?”

“Nearby. They’ll be ready when you require them.”

“Could you tell them fifteen minutes? I just need to change.”

“Where do you intend to go?”