Kobal arrived early the next morning, trying to soothe Tanner, who searched around in a fit of anger.

Having arrived late because she overslept, Andrea approached with caution. When Tanner banged his fist against the desk, Andrea yelped. Kobal caught sight of her. The red-haired E, though not as muscular as Tanner, was built well, and he used both hands to hold the enraged E's shoulders and shove him back into his chair.

Kobal muttered something, almost scolding. Tanner glanced at Andrea out of the corner of his eye and exhaled with a grim frown.

Andrea eased into her chair, hands clenching a cup tight. "Something wrong?"

"He's misplaced something." When Tanner tried to stand up and search around again, Kobal shoved him back into his seat. "And it's his own fault for bringing it to the office anyway. He's probably left it in his room. If he'd forget them here, as he said, then he could forget them anywhere."

Tanner's desk was on Andrea's right, and Andrea was acutely aware of the E' as she sipped from her cup. She looked at them out of the corner of her eye.

"Something important?"

"No," Kobal said, leaning forward to catch Tanner's gaze. They stared at each other for some time. Tanner made a gesture with his hands while communicating.

They seemed deep in thought—in conversation. Andrea gasped, quite pleased. "Are you two using telepathy?"

"Yes," Kobal finally admitted. "It seems a bit sneaky, I know, but he refuses to talk to me."

Tanner could communicate, albeit using telepathy. Now the prospect of going through the term in silence wasn't an issue anymore.

"Can...can you teach me? I mean, can he and I do that?" Her question was met with a frown, and it made her worry. "What?"

"It's just...." Kobal hesitated. "These two, Tan and Queen, are instructed to not use telepathy with regular people—"

"Why?"

"Because E's don't just use telepathy to communicate; they also use it to steal information. Sometimes, even if they try to just talk to a person, if that person's guard's down, they can take memories, secrets—whatever they want."

Andrea felt sick to her stomach. "Oh?"

Tanner was back to work, ignoring them. Andrea looked at him as he typed. His bald head, his square jaw, his brow wrinkled due to his anger and frustration...and his eyes which seemed soft somehow.

"I...I don't think he'd do something like that," Andrea muttered.

"It's not always intentional," Kobal said. "But if you don't mind it, and you promise not to do it often, please go ahead and offer."

"How?"

"Just tap your head. He'll get it."

A thought occurred and Andrea admitted, "I can't speak German, though."

"Oh. With telepathy you don't have to. Thoughts are encoded, and all E's can break that code. Especially Tan here. Breaking codes is his thing. Please excuse me; I must check on Queen."

Kobal said something to Tanner in German, and he lingered. He waited for their eyes to meet, and once Tanner returned his gaze, they both nodded, and Kobal left.

Andrea and Tanner didn't work in silence for long because Tanner banged on his interface now and then. Finally, when the E sat back, Andrea picked up her cup, sipping it as she asked, "What are you missing?"

Tanner was startled by her voice. The weary E just looked at her, and Andrea tried again. That time she put the cup down and shrugged as she said, "Was?" It was the only German that she remembered from school.

Without replying, Tanner extended his index fingers and mimicked beating a drum.

"Oh." Andrea shrugged again, face warming. "They were here yesterday."

Their supervisor shook his head as he walked past, calling out, "I tried to warn you, Tannenbaum. Andrea steals."

Tanner watched the man as he passed by to the other side of the room, where he joined a conversation with the elderly men.

Andrea's face burned hot with shame, but Tanner had not understood. A slight shrug of the shoulders conveyed the E's choice to concede defeat.

Having no other choice, Andrea turned back to her work.

***

The next morning Andrea was surprised to see a pair of drumsticks on Tanner's desk when she arrived. She had opted to wear a jacket that day—one of the few designer pieces of clothing she had left that fit her new size. Still with her right hand in her coat, she opened the flap and looked down at Tanner's missing drumsticks in her hand, then to the new set on the desk. She swore under her breath, scrambling for a place to put them.

Tanner stumbled into the office with a shove, followed by Queen who came to a stop in front of the desk.

"There. There're your damn drumsticks. Now stop moping and moaning."

Tanner smiled and reached back to thump Queen on the chest.

"Shuck that," Queen said. "What reason would I have for replicating you a new batch?" They paused, and Queen raised his green eyebrows in response to Tanner's telepathic retort. "Oh yeah? Well, it could be that I wanna get you to snap out of it. Or maybe I am here to cover for a thief; which is it?"

Shaking his head with a small smile, Tanner reached for the sticks. He hefted them, testing the weight, and said, "Yo."

Queen laughed, patting Tanner's back. "Finish before lunch so we can get the hell up out of here. I can't handle being in this gaw-ro cage for much longer."

Tanner turned to wave to him once he'd walked away.

When Tanner sat down, Andrea's heart stopped. She automatically clenched the drumsticks she was hiding tighter.

With a small smile, Tanner said something that sounded like gibberish. To Andrea's surprise, the E leaned closer and playfully pulled the jacket open and peered in. And then Tanner saw them, the drumsticks, and his smile faded.

Kobal arrived for his usual rounds. With one look at Andrea's humiliated expression and Tanner's equally surprised yet embarrassed frown, he slowed his hurried pace. "What's wrong?"

Tanner shook his head and went back to working at his desk. Andrea sat looking up at Kobal.

"I...I just...I just wanted to give him...to give them to him."

"A new set?" Kobal's face lit up. "Wow. That is so nice of you. Are you sure? I know replicating wood is pretty expensive." He reached out to take the drumsticks from Andrea's hand with a smile. "You could have just had one of us replicate it. That would have saved you the money. Don't worry about Tan. He's just obsessive sometimes. He could very well have made another set."

Tanner didn't turn as Kobal tapped his shoulder and offered the sticks. He muttered something while shaking his head, and then nodded to the new set on the table.

Kobal handed the sticks back to Andrea, embarrassed by Tan's behavior. "I'm sorry. He says he's got a new pair, so it's okay." He hurried to add, "But you shouldn't worry. The original ones were lined with Tan's essence, you see. So he won't be able to take just any pair."

Andrea knew she had no right to sound resentful, but she was. "Are you saying he doesn't want my essence? Because he didn't mind Queen giving him another set."

"Nah." Kobal looked down at the drumsticks, and said, "He says these ones are lined with negative energy. He does have a point." With reluctance, Kobal handed the sticks back. "I'm sorry he's so rude. This was very thoughtful of you."

There was no need to hide the sticks now, so Andrea didn't. She just sat there, the drumsticks on her lap, her head hung.

"Right," she said, desperate to try and change the subject. "I've never seen you late before."

Kobal's breath hitched. "Yeah. Sorry. I...just having some home trouble."

"Everything okay?"

With a pitiful shrug, Kobal tried to wave her off. "Nothing. I...I just don't know if I still have a chance at getting engaged. Apparently I misread Rene's intentions."

Andrea gaped. "You broke up with Rene? It's—"

"It's more like she wants to break up, not me, but...please, I don't wanna talk about that. I think I came on too strong. I asked too soon." Kobal managed a small smile. "Please excuse me. I...I have to check on Tanner's progress."

Before he could turn, Andrea stood. "Hey. Th-think we could have dinner tonight or something?" Rene must have been a fool to give this Adonis up. And Kobal's seemingly lousy taste in women would just make Andrea's chances a bit better. Forget wanting a wish; getting someone like Kobal to notice her would be just as good. "If...if you have time."

Kobal looked flattered at least. "I...I'm sorry, Mistress Andrea. I...." He reddened further, which Andrea didn't think was possible. "I really want to give Rene some time. I think I rushed things. That's all. I—"

"As a friend." Andrea tried not to glance at Tanner, not wanting to see if anyone had a front row seat to her open rejection. "Just to have dinner."

Kobal smiled. "I'd love to. Thanks. I'll see if Rene is free. Is tonight all right?"

Andrea's spirits sank. "Y-yeah. Sure."

"Oh. Thanks so much. That's just the thing to cheer her up. Thank you." With that Kobal bowed and turned to put his hand on Tanner's chair, looming over the man's shoulder.

Andrea sat back in a state of disbelief, not sure what the hell had just happened. Another blunder. Way to raise the bar, Andrea.

After Kobal left, Tanner was stoic as ever as he worked, his eyes fixed on the interface before him. Andrea tried to mimic him by going back to work, but she could only stare at the man. He was qualified, skilled, and so what if he couldn't speak the Common. There were plenty of wealthier families stuck in their ways about speaking the old languages.

This E had all the opportunity for a good job. So she tried to wrap her head around why he was here instead. Even the basic workers made more. Intent on scrutinizing Tanner's resume and profile in detail, she tapped on the desk. The smooth surface came to life. She called up her schedule and authorization status on the interface and gasped at what she saw. Tanner looked at her, but Andrea just jumped up and rushed out the door.

Her heart pounded as she arrived at Marian's office. She calmed and collected her thoughts before knocking. Forget about trying to be a new Andrea; the old Andrea knew how to keep her head on her body.

That time there was no greeting, and she was certain she knew why. Sure enough, Marian sat back with her arms folded, an inhospitable expression on her face.

"What now?" she asked.

After stepping into the office, Andrea waited for the door to close before bowing. "I... I...I just wish—"

"Out with it, Andrea."

Andrea held her tongue, not intending to give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her squirm.

"You cannot tell me you are in any way shocked," Marian said.

But she was. "Ma'am, it's...it's only a basic music class."

"Only a basic music class? You say that as if it's a meaningless requirement. Don't you know that everything big started out small? Basic in your head means low, lacking skill, and therefore easy and useless. To the rest of us, it's a foundation. And you said it yourself; you really have no skill. Short of that meager teaching certificate which you managed to get by the grace of the Colony, you really have no qualifications to teach that class."

Andrea swallowed hard, biting back the urge to defend her only achievement thus far, that certificate.

"A substitute teacher with skill and a good reputation will be coming for the basic music class," Marian told her.

Andrea did a good job of masking her hurt. "I can still get my office work done after hours and teach that class."

Marian didn't even look up from her desk when she answered. "No. Absolutely not. I don't even know what your father was thinking when he put you in that office to fiddle with our numbers. With you in there, I'm surprised we're still in business. Gara is talented and sophisticated. And a performer. She's just what we need."

Andrea went back to work after lunch, determined to ignore the fact that the daughter her mother had always wanted was about to saunter through the main gates like she owned the place. Worse yet, the substitute was likely to meet with little to no opposition when the SOB did start acting like she owned the place.

As usual, Tanner was gone after lunch, and Andrea stared at his empty chair for some time. In her mind she imagined the man's picture-perfect posture and tried to mimic it. Eventually, she began to slouch and got back to work.

"Great. Good job, Andrea, you jackass." She groaned to herself and decided to forget about the dud E.

***

Andrea worked well into the night, having received a message on her interface around six o'clock from Kobal. Dinner was off, but they'd reschedule.

"Right." Time and again she repeated that single-sentence text to herself and snort. "Yeah. Right."

She was late in leaving the office, and, as anticipated, most workers had retreated to the area designated for staff by the time Andrea arrived at the spacious kitchen. When she saw the outline of someone sitting at the table in front of the food that had been set out for her, she approached with caution. It wasn't a body she readily recognized.

Tanner sat hunched at the table, writing on a piece of paper.

Andrea paused, thinking back to the days prior to figure out when or where the E had gotten that paper. She made a mental note to count her stack tomorrow.

"Hi."

The E's bald head snapped up, and he gave a weak smile. Tanner's brown eyes settled on the paper once more. He studied what he'd written and pushed it forward.

Andrea decided to sit and did so as she picked the paper up. The very texture made her want to cry; it was from the office. By the Colony, how much more paper can be sacrificed for the good of communication? What she saw made her pause for some time. It was a picture. She'd seen E drawings before. Hell, when she'd called up Queen and Tanner's profiles to see if they were single, she'd seen a few samples of Queen's artwork. The man was a genius with a brush. Tanner, however...was much less sophisticated than the other E's. When Andrea lowered the paper and saw Tanner's smug look, she focused on the picture again and finally laughed.

"So this is your way of giving me a message?" Andrea pointed at the drawing. "I guess this is Queen?"

Tanner took the paper back, ran his thumb along the pen to change the ink color, and scribbled green hair on the stick figure.

"Ja."

"Right." Andrea studied the message again and smiled in spite of herself. She turned the paper around to Tanner for inspection as she spoke. "So Kobal told Queen to tell me he wasn't coming." She pointed down to the second row of pictures to show Queen's stick figure with a frowny face. She took on the same gruff tone the E was noted for. "So Queen said 'hell no, I'm not going.' So you've decided to come tell me. But that was a good three hours ago." She got to the final image with the Tanner frowny face, made all too clear that it was Tanner because he'd drawn everyone else with exaggerated eyebrows, yet this stick figure was the only one without. "So you're pissed because you waited out of the kindness of your heart and I took a long time to get here?"

Tanner gave Andrea that calm, pleasant look she had come to like. When the man folded his arms and sat back, Andrea bowed, humbled.

"So sorry." She didn't get a response, so she clapped her hands together. "So sorry. Sorry."

In response Tanner pushed the tray of food forward and sat up with his elbows on the table as he pointed to what was on the tray.

There wasn't much, but then again, Andrea wasn't surprised. Marian had brought the hammer down, and although Gulliver didn't usually act all that servile to her, whatever Marian threatened to do must have convinced the cook to take heed.

The sight of the soup, bread, and yogurt caught her attention, and she nodded.

"Right. A hearty meal."

With no way of making conversation, Andrea waited for Tanner to leave. The E didn't budge; he just sat and watched her. For an instant Andrea missed Gulliver. Sure the man couldn't talk, but at least he could understand.

Now Andrea truly felt like she was talking to herself. She sighed and started on the soup. Halfway through, she noticed that Tanner had slouched lower to watch her, eyes on Andrea's mouth.

"Oh yeah, you guys don't eat, huh?" At the curious look, Andrea decided to offer some of her food. "Never? You just never eat? Not even for pleasure? Some of you eat for fun, don't you? Here, try it."

The gesture prompted Tanner to sit back and shake his head. He took interest in the bread roll next, and Andrea studied him. As large as Tanner's body was, despite all the power he exuded just by being there, he did appear harmless on many levels. There was a gentleness about him.

She didn't think of it as much of a risk when she broke the bread and handed a piece over. Tanner eyed her then took the piece. He sat apprehensive, to say the least, but he took a bite and spat it out right away.

Andrea smiled and then laughed when Tanner looked from the bread roll to the paper he had scribbled on and nodded between the two.

"It does not taste like paper. Come on," Andrea mused.

When Tanner reached for the paper and threatened to take a bite, Andrea sat up to snatch it from him.

"Stop already." Andrea chuckled. "Other than the fact that they both burn easily—"

Tanner made an attempt to snatch the paper back, but their fingers brushed, and a spark flickered between them at the contact.

Andrea stood. "What the hell...?"

She managed to catch a glimpse of Tanner's eyes widening in fear before the paper caught fire.

Tanner pushed her back, shielding her.

The very touch of the E's hand on her skin made Andrea howl.

Andrea looked up from the burn mark on her stomach. Tanner stood, both hands engulfed in flames, staring at the offending appendages, at a loss of what to do.

A chime sounded, and the System's voice boomed. "Fire. Oxygen depletion in five, four, three, two...."

The kitchen door slid shut, and the lights dimmed. Tanner was the only light source then, his fists burning blue. Within a matter of seconds, there was no more air for Andrea to gasp, and the flames faded.

"Oxygen restoration in...."

As soon as the door opened, to Andrea's relief, Queen rushed in. Once the oxygen was back, so were the flames on Tanner's hands.

"What the hell, Tan? This is where you've been hiding?" Queen scolded.

Like a child holding up a broken toy, Tanner raised his hands for display, and Queen caught hold of them, fire and all. Before the System could sound once more, he said, "System. The fire's been contained." Queen sighed in relief when he turned Tanner's hands palm up and saw them unharmed.

"Confirmed."

Tanner's eyes were wide with fear and something else Andrea didn't recognize. The bald E laughed. Joy. The man was happy.

Queen didn't sound quite as thrilled. "Yeah, yeah. I'm happy for you, too, but what the hell? Don't you know even the slight basics of controlling thought? You're lucky it was fire and not water." He would have gone on with his scolding, but Tanner yanked his hands away and answered with a smile.

Andrea couldn't understand the exchange.

Tanner made a fist and punched forward. Nothing happened, and he tried it again and again to no avail. Once he stood fully, looking down at his hands, his entire expression fell.

Queen soothed, "We both know the power is there. It's just locked up. But it'll come back once it's fully healed. And hopefully you won't be stuck in the coded languages like you are now. Shouldn't you focus on that instead?"

Tanner kicked his chair and sent it banging against the wall.

Andrea flinched at the impact. She stifled a yelp, but Queen looked back at her, startled at her presence. After looking between them again and again, the green-haired E voiced his disapproval.

"What the hell were you two doing?" Queen asked.

The edge to the words made Andrea clench her fists. "What's that mean?"

Queen looked Andrea up and down, scowling in disgust once he was done with his appraisal.

"I know about you. Everybody knows about you. My little brother isn't some toy. And he definitely wouldn't be interested anyway." Queen nodded to the door. "Don't you have an endless supply of nice servants with questionable standards to lie down under?"

Face burning from the humiliation, Andrea fought to say something. Tanner pulled at Queen's shoulder while pointing to his own head. Andrea could only guess that meant Queen wasn't allowing Tanner to hear his thoughts.

Queen shrugged him off. "Nothing. I just told her you were busy."

Tanner answered, but Queen shook his head.

"We are busy, though. Come on." With a sigh, Queen turned and took Tanner by the arm. "We've gotta file an incident report before Kobal comes back with paperwork blazing. We should go."

Whatever Tanner said made Queen pause. The man's blue eyes settled on Andrea and her stomach, and Andrea remembered her burn. Thinking of it now brought the pain back, but it was the hurt to her pride that Andrea truly lamented.

Queen took a step forward to Andrea. Although Andrea knew the man meant to heal her wound, she stepped away, her teeth clenched.

"Get the hell away from me."

There was a brief bout of silence until Queen snorted in derision and turned Tanner toward the door.

"She said she'd ask the medics to look at it." Despite Tanner's protest, Queen was stern. "Just move. Because let's not forget that you nearly burned the woman's house down. All right?"

Andrea watched them until they were far enough away so that she could no longer hear Tanner's hurried protests or Queen's gruff voice.

Body aching on many levels, Andrea made her way back to her room. Each step she took made her more bitter. Upon reaching her door to find the keypad glowing green instead of red as it should to indicate it was locked, she swallowed hard.

What now? Has someone been in my room? The thought lit her up with panic, but she calmed herself before she entered. There wasn't much anyone could steal, so she considered that something unpleasant might have been left for her. From what she could see with the naked eye, everything was in place. The only thing of value she had was the diskettes of credits she had hidden. She rushed to the closet panel and sighed with relief when she found them untouched.

Why would someone come in here if they didn't want something? She thought maybe she was being paranoid, but she was careful in re-hiding the diskettes.

Everything seemed in order. Everything seemed all right, but she knew better. Something was missing, and she couldn't readily say what. Someone had been in her room.

I should have come to bed earlier.

She looked down at her stomach again, and her eyes settled on the burn there. She felt bitter about that situation with Tanner most of all. The idea that there was a connection between her room door being opened and getting burned was farfetched. She didn't believe that for a second.

But the burn.... She knew that was an irrational thought, but be it cosmic karma or otherwise—for going back to wasting her time with servants, she had this coming.