"The first of the month." Andrea lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, bandaged from head to toe. She lumbered to her feet.

With great care, she peeled the white cloth away from her mummified chest down to her thighs. Her blood boiled with each layer she pulled back. She had asked for three things changed, with minor body fat reductions. Despite Andrea having begun the surgery in private, Marian had found out and specified a deep reduction instead.

This had better last, because I'm never going through another fat-reducing procedure again. She can go to hell. Never again.

Body bare, Andrea gasped, taken aback at what she saw.

"Perfect." The flawless skin below, free of swelling and discoloration, calmed her.

After dressing in black, she turned to put her hand against the wall adjacent to the door and said, "System, mirror."

The concrete surface below her fingertips turned silver and solidified into a reflective surface.

"Wow," she said. Even Andrea's face, one of the few things anyone ever complimented, looked better.

She leaned in closer, noticing that whatever the medic put to cover the mole under her right eye was wearing off. Not even the beauty mark Andrea had asked to part with had been removed. They hadn't honored any of her requests.

"That's okay," Andrea told herself. "Maybe it won't matter to Reed. System, adjust the setting. Not just the face, but a full-body mirror. Make that the new default."

"Command confirmed." The reflective area extended to the floor.

At least the damn computer can follow instructions. Minor operation, my ass.

Reluctant, she turned to get a better view of her backside and let out a weak sigh. They hadn't changed it, not even slightly; it's still exactly the same.

"What the hell? I said...fine. Forget it. The rest of you looks okay, Andrea."

She looked good from the front, she decided, and that was enough.

"A strong businesswoman must keep up appearances. You should never be mistaken for the staff." She thought of the quote from the business archive.

Change. Not only did she intend to fight Marian for her title, but she'd also lined up a safety net. Reed...the sort-of-but-not-quite boyfriend she'd been putting up with. Sure, Reed wasn't the most attractive man around, or friendly, but his family had some power, and he'd already hinted at his interest. It could work. It would work.

With a sense of determination, Andrea grabbed a small data diskette from the nightstand and read it through. Invoking the rights of the heir-in-wait. The data tablet in hand, she turned to leave the room. "Good-bye, Johann Andrea, the punching bag. Hello, Johann Andrea, the heir-in-wait."

Thirty days since the funeral; twenty-five days since the operation; ten more minutes before Marian finds out what I'm capable of.

With perhaps the exception of Marian's cold black heart, everything could change. Andrea could change, too.

As she walked past the numerous pillars in the long hall, her body felt different, she felt ready for battle. The thirty days had passed, as was tradition for showing respect for her grandfather's death, and Andrea knew that the gloves were about to come off. Knowing Marian, they'd no doubt come off and land right across Andrea's face.

Yes, today Andrea felt invincible. In the distance Gulliver took careful strides. It was strange to see the servant in this area of the house so early. When Andrea passed by, Gulliver came to an abrupt stop and turned back the way he'd come. Even he could sense it; the servant could feel the heir-in-wait's new found power.

Five minutes later Andrea stopped in front of a thick steel door. Be confident, be confident. It's your house now. It's not like you're a part of the staff. She made her presence known with a firm knock.

The jovial voice that called out to her was a surprise. "Sir, please come in."

Andrea wrinkled her brow as the door slid open. Who the hell is she expecting?

"Good morning, ma'am," she said.

Marian's slender face looked gaunter in the dimly lit room as she let out a slow sigh—she was in attack mode. "Why are you here and not at the roll call?"

Andrea bowed again. "It...is customary th—that the head of the house—that I prepare before addressing the new staff."

Marian made a noise.

"You're not known for being hard-working, but I can see that you are actually serious."

When she nodded to a neat stack of data diskettes on her desk, Andrea traced the outline of her own small 'heir-in-wait' diskette in her lower pants pocket.

"I thought we'd discussed this," Marian said. "In our last formal conversation at the funeral, I thought we'd agreed that you'd actually pull your own weight and abandon this trivial title. I expected you to cease wearing trousers, as well. I see you've ignored me—" She raised her hand to stop any interruptions. "That is just my opinion. So, fine. If you are serious about taking charge of this house, then let's see you do that. First order of business: look through these and make a list of people we should turn away and people we should employ."

Andrea watched her mother as wary prey watched a predator. Marian's helpful and even endearing tone made Andrea suspicious. This can't be good.

"Unless you're not interested...."

"No, ma'am. I'm up for the challenge," Andrea said, intent on wiping that smug look off Marian's face Andrea wasn't prey; she was an opponent, a soldier even. She'd play along for now. "Since we're on this subject, I'd like to convey my concern about this year's students. Breaking from a tradition of an all boys' school will take away from our prestige. And it seems kind of desperate, like we're just doing it because last year's clientele list was so abysmal."

Instead of retaliating, Marian gave a stern look.

Andrea reached for the diskettes on the desk and found that they all contained individual resumes. Upon reading them, she relaxed. In a matter of minutes she made two neat piles.

"You don't need the names on them?" Marian asked. "You can activate the names if you'd like."

"Names have no bearing on skills," Andrea answered, brimming with confidence as she reviewed her choices. She smiled to herself when her mother took three diskettes from the refusal pile and put them on the table. Andrea'd been expecting that.

Marian sat back in her chair. "Why did you refuse these three?"

"There is one that isn't even a consideration. Only one minor qualification. No real work history and not enough skill to talk about."

"And this one?" Marian tapped a bony index finger against the diskette in the middle. "His head for numbers is incredibly good."

"He's suspicious."

"Suspicious?" Marian asked.

"Yes. All those skill sets. It just seems too good to be true, like it's forged."

"It's impossible to forge Colony files."

Now Andrea found herself stifling a laugh. "Nothing's impossible."

"You might only want to hire an E for a wish, but for businesses, having an E can be very cost-effective. An E with such a high skill set is nothing new. In fact, that is their advantage." Marian added, "All that time, all that power, and no hunger."

"The salary for his duty is laughably low if he's really that smart." Marian didn't say anything, and Andrea's heart pounded faster. "But let's assume that he is legit, and that he's willing to take such a meager wage. But why come here? This E's probably looking to have fun with us or to hack us."

"Hack us to steal what?" Their eyes met and Marian asked, "Our sheet music? Our tubas?"

Heat filled Andrea's face.

Marian sighed. "All right. Did you see all the information about his handler?" She waited, but Andrea couldn't answer; she hadn't. "It is the Common Language or nothing for you, I see. I guess you're fortunate that the skill set area was input by the System."

"It's...it's arrogant to send a resume in a language other than English. And English is the Common in this section, as well as other major areas. A business needs someone who's able to match it well, be conducive."

Marian turned, and started to rummage around on the shelf behind her. "What about the third one you refused? You, who are such an advocate for all things relating to E's."

With a sense of accomplishment, Andrea perked up, pleased that she'd anticipated Marian's attempt at tricking her. "Yes, I'm curious about them. I mean, I want to hire one, yes, but...a green-haired one isn't worth the trouble. I read the business journal newsletter on the archive interface every night before I sleep. It didn't say shrewd businesses should turn away green-haired E's, but ninety percent of the menacing E's on the list had green hair. A green-haired E—"

"This one isn't on that list."

"It doesn't matter. Like the other E who applied, this is an E we didn't invite. It would be reckless to risk it."

Her mother's look of triumph made her swallow hard. What the hell did I miss? What's with that smug grin?

In an attempt to bring focus to her bigger decision, Andrea nodded to the other diskettes she'd set aside. "I'm not playing favorites or being unfair. As you can see, I rooted out the Topsiders who are qualified. Enough of them have physical enhancements, like bionic limbs, that would make them just as effective. And if they have recently immigrated from the surface, I was sure to look for a Colony seal of approval since they are riskier...."

The continued smug stare robbed Andrea of speech, and she trailed off. She hurried to feel for the small diskette in her right pants pocket. Touching that helped her calm. Invoking the rights of the heir-in-wait is what the diskette read, and it was exactly what she planned to do. She just had to wait for the right time to present it to her mother. That'd shut the heartless shrew up.

Marian turned in her chair to reach for a diskette on the shelf.

"That was your chance to impress me." The diskette she'd retrieved took up her attention as she spoke. "And you're as useless as I expected. If you could read more than one language like everyone else, you'd know that both E's are under Met's say-so. He's High ELETE, which means they are likely Colony-sanctioned E's. So we need not concern ourselves with safety. The Colony will deal with them at every turn, not us. And if you were as shrewd as you fancy yourself to be, you would also know to read a resume in its entirety." She sat up and looked Andrea in the eye. "The green-haired one is quite skilled as an engineer and a medic. On top of that, the one who you think is a hacker is actually harmless."

With the swoop of a hand Marian tossed the diskette down on the desk—and Andrea's ego down along with it. Andrea eyed it, but Marian's voice drew her focus once more.

"What business would turn all that down? It doesn't matter why they chose to come here. What matters is that they did choose to come, and they did it formally. Only an idiot would turn down skills such as these, especially at these wages. These are Colony files, with the Colony's guarantee, and there is absolutely no reason to doubt them."

Andrea opened her mouth to defend herself and her decision, but nothing came out. She made a few more unsuccessful attempts before finally giving up.

"And the resume on the first diskette that you rejected belongs to somebody I know. Why shouldn't I hire her?"

Palms damp with sweat, Andrea brushed her hair back from her eyes. "We have a standard to keep. She has no qualifications."

"She could just take on a lowly job—"

"Yes, but anyone looking at our school and its reputation will expect skilled teachers. We shouldn't take on any charity cases. We have a standard to keep."

Mist, stop repeating yourself. Pull it together, Andrea. She was floundering, her throat was tight, and now she felt like a fallen wannabe soldier trapped by the neck, held down by her mother's well-polished boot.

Marian sat stoic, metaphorically easing the pressure on Andrea's throat before stepping on her again. "You wouldn't send your child to a school with one underqualified teacher?"

Andrea didn't want to come off as a snob, but she didn't have any other alternative. Again she brushed her hair out of her eyes and answered, that imaginary boot pressing her throat tighter. "I'm not saying that. I'm saying that if there are others to choose from, then I'd rather select the ones who seem more polished."

"And you certainly wouldn't want a school where the head of the school—hell, the head of the house—was unqualified?" When Andrea was mute, Marian smirked. "I'm surprised you don't know whose resume it is."

Andrea needed a moment to think before her blood ran cold.

"It's yours," her mother said.

Crack went the fallen soldier's neck. Andrea stared at Marian, dumbstruck.

"No formal education, no skills, nothing." Marian waited for her to retaliate, and scowled when she had nothing to say. "Always taking the easy way out, Andrea, dodging all responsibility, learning nothing useful. Look where you are now. Even you wouldn't hire you."

Andrea's once confident posture wilted. She wondered why Marian felt the need to turn a metaphorical heel on her next.

"Do you get it now?" Marian asked.

Unable to even look at her mother; Andrea kept her eyes on the desk, suffocating as reality came into focus.

"You have your precious, all-perfect, god-among-men grandfather to thank for letting you drop out of school. He always spoiled you, and you never listened to me."

Her mother paused, and Andrea took in a deep breath. And that was that. The feel of the small data diskette in her pocket no longer comforted her. In fact she felt embarrassed for having it. Her weapon was useless. She had lost—her pride had taken a beating—but she tried to think of how to walk away with some remnants of her dignity.

That hope faded when she looked at her mother and saw that the woman was raring up for a final, victorious kick to the head.

"Spouse or job?" Marian asked.

Andrea watched her mother without replying, heart pounding so fast that her chest ached.

"Did you think you had a fifty-fifty shot at a branding tattoo of either a spouse or a job?" Marian repeated. "You come here as if you plan to bully me instead of coming to offer up thanks. You are twenty years old now; that only gives you one year to search. If you can't get an active Colony branding tattoo assigning you to a spouse, you'll be in deep impshit. Because you won't get a job here. I doubt you can get a job anywhere, so I humbly suggest you take the spouse route. So do I get a thank you for my consideration? Or do I get a complaint for having the courage to do what is necessary and bypass your tepid attempt at self-improvement?"

A thank you? Andrea tried to keep her jaw from hanging open. A thank you? They cut me open, you sick hag. Each attempt Andrea made at speaking left her feeling ill. She closed her mouth rather than risk what might come out.

Marian sat up and folded her arms. "You have a quarrel with me?"

Lips trembling, Andrea fought to forget the pain she had endured for weeks. "Ma'am, it's bad enough the procedure was...." She swallowed her upset and exhaled. Those three things were all she wanted; Marian could have at least included them. "...was changed. But what I specified...if...."

Her voice trailed off to nothing, and Marian leaned forward, examining her. "Let's see what you decided to change." She tapped on the interface on her desktop and read, "Removing the mole under your right eye. Reducing the size of your posterior. Removing...." Her voice softened until she coughed and muttered, "Removing an extra appendage."

Face hot and body throbbing, Andrea stood galvanized by the humiliation. Her mother even knew the details; Andrea hadn't counted on that. She'd even paid extra for no one to ever find out. All of her meager credits squandered; and best yet, the woman could rub it in—all of those insecurities.

"That face and that body are gifts. You got them from me. You have no right to abuse them as you have. Your face is near perfect; the beauty mark only accentuates it. As for your hefty bottom, that is just the way you are. I cannot say with certainty it is even a flaw. And for the third thing you think imperfect, it's true; most people have two...and two is the deformity. One more is perfectly normal. You've almost disfigured yourself, like a fool. You have a natural beauty to you, but nobody can see it past that usual gut."

Andrea tried to remember how to breathe. The sting of those words left her ears burning.

"What do you think would happen if a potential spouse checked your background and saw that you had work done on your face? An unattractive body is one thing, but your looks is the only thing you have. You don't have the right to ever disrespect a gift given to you."

What Marian said about a potential suitor questioning Andrea's appearance was true; it was all true, but Andrea hated her, regardless.

Andrea barely managed to speak past her anger. "It was my choice. I had made my decision."

"I requested the most extreme procedure for your own benefit," Marian said. "You are waiting on the title of this household, looking to fall back on that free ride, but I've got news for you. If that title can skip your father, it can certainly skip you. With your shaky foundation, the Assembly will simply deem you unfit to care for this household, and you'll be forced to relinquish the title to Dominic."

She waited for Andrea to say anything. Andrea waited, too, scrambling for a way to challenge her. All the blood drained out of Andrea's face until she was a shell of herself. There was nothing she could do as her mother did a proverbial victory dance on what was left of Andrea's dignity.

"Do you have the energy? Can you afford to risk fighting me? Shouldn't you spend more time on self-preservation? On survival?"

Andrea flinched.

"The clock is ticking, Andrea. Not one person has put in a bid to be your suitor."

Something in Andrea failed to function; she wasn't sure what, but for a split second, her body shut down from the shock. "What? No, that's untrue...."

Marian left the word to linger, and her smug expression said it all. Reed had changed his mind; the sure bet suitor. Andrea had asked for those minor tweaks for Reed. They were the three things about herself that Reed hated, but Reed hadn't come through.

No. He promised.

"That's...that's not true," Andrea managed again.

Marian didn't so much as bat an eye. She gestured forward to the desk, challenging Andrea to call up the interface.

"Check for yourself. Not even one."

Body feeling numb, Andrea struggled to breathe. No. Reed said....

"We had held out hope for Reed," Marian said, grim as if she'd just encountered a dead body. "But all the praying in the Colony hadn't help there. You blew it. You absolutely blew your chances of a relationship with him. You'd better hope the evaluation goes well today and that we find someone desperate enough to take you off our hands." She watched Andrea, loathing written across her face. "And even with that, I have my doubts."

Andrea didn't dare answer. Reed hadn't wanted her. Even after she'd already gone and given Reed so much...of herself. Her mother might have actually saved her by changing her requests.

Marian growled. "Are you healed?"

It took a moment before Andrea could muster up enough calm to whisper. "Yes, Mother."

The very word made Marian fight back a gag. "Do. Not. Call me Mother. Now that he's dead, I don't have to acknowledge you as anything to me but a burden. And I swear to you, Andrea, if you weren't eligible to get married and leave, I'd throw you to the imps and start over."

She gathered the diskettes, both the rejection pile and the acceptance pile in one go, and put them aside once more.

"You will work with the servants from this day forth. You are now a part of the staff. You can earn your money like a Colony mutt. And if you want a better life, simply marry someone and get out. Please do so quickly."

The venom in her voice lessened as she nodded toward the diskette she'd thrown down earlier.

"Now get yourself ready for roll call, and don't you dare forget that Victor will be coming at ten o'clock. Let him see you before you have time to stuff your face."

Mortified, Andrea reached out a shaky hand to take the diskette. With a mute nod, she turned to leave.

Marian called after her, "As for the E's, here's a word to the wise, Andrea. You did have an E once, and he marked you with that blond hair. Do you remember?"

I had one? Had? Andrea blinked, surprised by those words. "No, not really."

"You did. Over ten years ago, you made a wish to that E. And it was the worst thing you ever did to us, and it was the most horrible thing ever done to that E. What was left of him after the fact...I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I suppose this time around, if you can catch another E's interest you'll wish to be rid of me instead."

Andrea knew it was both a question and a challenge rolled into one.

"You're more than welcome to try," Marian said. "But you'd better make it count because, much like your grandfather, you are on borrowed time. Now get the hell out of my sight."