Inside the Iron Room was colder than Hoya had imagined and Hoya couldn't determine whether it was because of the blast of chilly air or the clinical white and metallic silver all around.

If it wasn’t for the colours that people brought in with their hair and outfits, and the vibrant yellows, reds, blues and teals on the miniature bots and models on the display tables,  the showroom would have looked even more monochromatic.

Not that she discriminated against the clean look, it was just that for some reason, there was a ‘do not disturb, do not touch’ experimental lab feel about it. And no, the white lab coats on the  serious looking technicians didn’t help either.

And if Hoya found an at home  no mess -no attention needed -self cleaning-self refilling -self bagging candy floss machine positioned next to a prototype for a heart monitoring device odd, the stiff backs and nervous eyes of the technicians was even weirder.

Aside from a few prototypes for alarm systems and tasers, that could be snatched, tampered with or maybe even duplicated after careful observation, Hoya didn’t see any reason for them to be so vigilant, especially not with security at the door.

Ah, speaking of, why was there security, anyways?

It would have been reasonable if it was an actual weapons convention, but this exhibit was more like a friendly showcase than anything else.

Just in case, Hoya scanned the tables so she didn’t miss anything.

By the time she reunited with the owner of the confident gait from before, she had been through a series of miniature presentations and her mind was filled with questions about how effective the spanner set in her car was…especially their grips.

Anyway, the polished black shoes just after the hems of the crisp, ironed black trousers snapped her out of it. Of course, vigilance was obeyed, when she had first leant against the wall outside, she had tried to take a sneaky look at the person behind her. Unfortunately he had walked too quickly and her head, bent down to look at the brochure, had only caught a glimpse of his lower body.

Neat, stylish,  with a classically effortless look that was definitely the product of careful grooming and formal tastes. Hoya would have been tempted to say he was a businessman, someone perhaps purely in the corporate world, had she not seen the tiny calluses in his palm when he stretched out his hand to test out the tiny crib alarm system on the table.

The moment his hand passed through the light so white it was nearly invisible in the room,  the bracelet that had been placed on his wrist buzzed an alarm. According to the student, the setting had been set to vibrate so as not to disrupt the exhibit and, as a bonus, to showcase the device's more silent feature.

Apparently, had the arm with the bracelet passed through the line, the system would have remained dormant. In short, no one needed to deactivate and reactivate it, and the likelihood of forgetting and thereby making the purchase useless was cut in half.

What made it even better?  The wireless connection range was significantly larger than anything on the market right now.

From the corner of her eyes Hoya could see a few pens clicking. She could see the appeal for those in the ever booming childcare business, but for Hoya, her interest was on two discrete points on the model scale: “what are the copper coils for?”

The student inventor looked at her with a gleam in her eyes and the suited man who had been quietly reaching out to test the functions of the alarm stopped.

“The bonus feature,” the student grinned and turned on the small screen in the hands of her fellow student, “although we can't demonstrate it live, here’s a video of the built in defence system.”

In the video three masked intruders entered a room covered floor to ceiling in white foam and walked towards the crib with obvious gaps between them.  stepped towards the crib. The moment the first person reached out to the wooden square, they staggered as if pushed back by a force.

The second time he was knocked back with even greater force. This time, it wasn't just him, but even those behind fell back.

“Its not quite a force-field, but the system can send sweeps of electric current to any intruders  or attackers,” the presenting student explained, the beads on her twists clicking as she enthusiastically shifted on her feet. “It can go from a warning stun to temporarily demobilising. By that time, per your pre-set options, your security team or the police would have been alerted.”

“And the situation in the crib?” The voice that came from Hoya’s side was low and a little frosty. Clearly this was all just business to him and none of the fun before his eyes had seeped in.

Well, whatever. It was rude not to look at people when they talked and so Hoya, as well mannered as anyone, took the opportunity to lift her head and look at his face. First things first, she would get it out of the way and say, the man in the nice suit was pretty easy on the eyes. Tan skin. sharp jaw, straight nose, slightly angled brows, intense copper eyes and curly maroon locks that did their best to add a touch of softness to his look.

A fierce kind of handsomeness- ah, that's it! Fierce! Like the face those ‘for men’ , ‘classic man’ ads had. Hoya nodded and pictured him on a magazine cover somewhere. Ahh, he really looked like the male lead in a ….

Huh…

No…

It couldn’t be…

Could  it?

By the time Hoya had made a decision, the young inventors had finished their presentation and were waiting for the small group she was in to pass by so that the others who were walking behind could take a better look.

She had missed it. Hoya tsked. For a moment,  her eyes flitted between the back that was walking away and the students. It was then, the moment he had mingled into the wider crowd again, that the student in front of her un-clenched her fists and let out a small breath.

Was he that scary?

As if to answer Hoya, a student from behind the table whispered, “he should be a big investor, right?”

“Probably, I think he wrote something down. Did he write our group name?”

Amidst the excitement, Hoya quietly picked up a business card with the group’s information.

“Thank you!” The voice of the clear eyed, smiling faced group leader sounded, just like the bell in Hoya’s head when she read the name: Joy King.

                                                                                

                                                                           ***

“Joy King, Joy King,” Hoya mumbled to herself. Two fingers lightly flipped the small business card in her hands as she walked out of the first basement level of the Weapons Engineering building. In her daze she wasn’t sure how she had made it out or when exactly she had left Joy’s table, but before she knew it, the light that was shining over her was the burnt orange glow of the setting sun.

Squinting as she shielded her eyes with her hand, Hoya, for the first time since she had seen the name on the card, lifted her head up.

So she had met Joy…

And Hoya felt…Nothing. She wasn’t sure whether her emotions had been stunned by the sheer surprise, or that she had built her expectations too high that when she saw a normal person, her inflated imagination had been pricked, burst and deflated.

Right now, she watched it fall to the ground like the empty rubber shell of a balloon.

It wasn’t until she had gotten back into her car that - “Haaa,” Hoya exhaled. She had already considered that the protagonist could be a normal, everyday person, but for some reason, she had imagined them as a little larger than life.

Closing her eyes, she rubbed her temples and inhaled deeply. After a few big breaths, she exhaled and laughed with just a touch of mirth. “This really is real life, Hoya.”

“How did it go?” Doe’s tentative voice asked. He had waited quietly in his seat until she lifted her head up from the steering wheel and looked ahead. By this time, the sun had already set.

Snapping herself out of her daze, Hoya took a sip of water from the bottle at her side and sighed.  “She’s personable.” Or maybe just a good salesperson. Anyway, likeability was common in this kind of genre.

At least she had found one person on the list , and fortunately for her, she had found quite the legitimate reason to keep in contact with Joy as she made her process of elimination.

Hoya held the business card up to Doe, “can you scan this and send this to my terminal?”

“You’re recruiting someone?” Doe copied the information with a faint, red, blue, green light that swept over the card once. “Should I contact the people at Gold Industries?”

“Not yet. First I need to make my pitch and win her over.” Hoya smiled and turned to Doe, “I still have to win her over.”

Protagonist or not, Joy King was a promising engineer and what would a Gold do but help cultivate such talent.

“...” Doe watched Hoya silently.

“Ahem,” Doe cleared his throat, “I hate to be the one to interrupt your internal monologue, but you have an appointment this evening.”

“-_-” Hoya’s lips and mouth formed three unamused lines. What did he mean by ‘I hate to be the one to interrupt’ ? Say what you want about AI simply mimicking emotions but in that moment in time, Hoya could tell that that pleased look on Doe’s face was entirely his.

Not giving him the satisfaction of a reaction, Hoya reorganised her expression and her face once again displayed that easy, soft smile. “Thank you for alerting me, Assistant Doughball. Can you remind me of what it is I have to be doing this evening?”

“It's a dinner your Grandmother set up. “ Doe said a little vaguely before hinting, “the one you shouldn’t be late for.”

“Ah? A?! That’s today?”

Shit.

                                                                              ***

Let it never be said that Hoya Gold was a woman that caved under pressure.

Her drive back home was smooth and unhurried. After all, she still had some time left, and eve if she didn’t, Hoya wasn’t one to speed through anything, not least driving through intersections and residential areas.

The moment she parked in front of her home, the story was a little different. Once Hoa’s feet touched solid ground they moved so fast she may as well have been an after image,  flitting intangibly by the stunned steward who had been waiting with a small card in his hand.

Of course, Hoya hadn't noticed any of that. Her eyes were on her door and once she was in her room. They were scanning through her evening dresses for something to wear. In the meantime, her hands were taking off her earrings and the other jewellery on her body.

When Hoya finally settled on a mulberry purple  midi dress, she flung it unceremoniously onto her bed before grabbing a shower cap and heading towards the bathroom for a quick shower.

“Doe!” Hoya remembered once the cold water hit her skin, “can you get me some accessories? Shoes and a small clutch?”

“Do you want anything specific?”

“Uhhh,”an image of the dress flashed through Hoya’s mind. “No, just something in a complementary colour? I don’t want to draw too much attention to myself today!”

“Understated?” Doe’s tone was a little disbelieving but Hoya let it slide.

It wasn’t everyday that she would go to a formal dinner without looking like she was dressed to kill, or at the very least turn a few heads and have their eyes fixed on her till she graciously gave up the floor. Of course, that was usually when she was hosting.

This evening was a much quieter affair and although she was one of the main players, it was more for business than pleasure, and more than having her ability to command a room be the focal point,  her other strengths were supposed to shine.

The ‘less eye-catching’ dress was a form fitting number with  a floral lace that extended from her chest to the high neck and sleeves. Golden studs and a sleek little ring on her left ring finger were all Hoya wore as accessories.

Like she said, she was going with a simple look. In any case, with the level of detail on the lace, anything else might have looked too much.

Since it would take too long to put her hair into a neat doughnut bun, Hoya settled for a failsafe high ponytail and the softness of her round face were once again in full view.

The moment Doe was done with her  with her light makeup, Hoya’s wine red lips curled up into a smile. “Perfect,” and she did say so herself.

Grabbing a thin black coat to ward off some of the evening chill, Hoya slipped her feet into a pair of strappy black platform heels and strode out of her room. It was only when she reached the main door that she stopped and looked at Doe, her eyes roundening with realisation. “Uh, by the way,” she asked, “where  exactly am I going?”

The holographic lips pursed in disappointment. “Tut, tut, tut.”

This is what Hoya meant by Doe being too emotive for his own good. Rolling her eyes, Hoya was about to take her mobile phone and search through her emails herself when Steward cleared his throat.

“...” How long had he been standing there? They said a good butler was as silent as air but goodness a girl could do with some warning.

“Miss Gold.”

“Hem,” Hoya coughed into her hand and straightened her posture that had become askew, a little like a frightened cat, but who was doing that comparison, Hmn? Definitely not her. “Mr. Stewart.”

Just like her, Doe, who had been playing the little menace, straightened his own expression to mimic the serious dutiful look of the seasoned steward.

Tch, Hoya rolled her eyes at him. What a poser.

Like nothing was amiss, the straight faced man nodded and handed over a small ivory envelope, “This invitation came in the mail for you.”

“Today?” Hoya took the envelope and looked at the same ivory coloured card in it. A red hibiscus motif centred on a bed of printed golden leaves was the defining feature on it, as most important details usually were. “The Cha family?”

“According to Mrs. Gold, it came yesterday. Unfortunately she left it in her bag.”

Which was conveniently in her hovercar parked somewhere too troublesome to retrieve, Hoya finished for herself.  The occurrence was so common that Hoya had begun to wonder whether her mother was testing the efficiency of the Gold Industries security system that had been installed on her vehicle.

“Oh, it's an invitation for tonight.” Hoya’s eyes flashed with surprise. Paper was still widely used, but people hardly sent invitations by post anymore. The most they offered, aside from a word of mouth invite and a quick text was an email.

Hoya didn’t know whether to say they were thoughtful, traditional in their polite reminders or both.

Midway through her thoughts Hoya didn’t forget to offer Doe a side eye that read, ‘You thought you were doing me?’* I found out anyway so there!

Ah, and as if Hoya would let it go with just a little teasing.

As! If!

                                                                             ***

“Where to?”

Hoya looked at the small round bot wearing a little metallic white collar with a small black bow tie and matching black cap.

Hoya had to admit he really had a flair for the dramatic. “You know, it's really amazing how you can manipulate that metal suit of yours.”

“It was a necessary upgrade.”

Yeah, For his theatrics.

Whether or not Doe saw Hoya’s eye roll from the rear-view mirror, he calmly and professionally repeated, “where to this evening, Miss?”

Where did that black and white movie accent come from? You know what? Hoya conceded, never mind. If he wanted to play, she’d bite.  “The Crimson Courtyard, and step on it.”

 

*Local slang for you thought you were playing me but you played yourself/ I’ll never be played.