The walk from school to the train station usually took Sylus twelve minutes, today it took nearly forty-minutes.
Emotion tags drifted above people head like ghosts.
A middle-aged man arguing on the phone passed him.
[Frustration — 42%]
A teenage girl scrolling through her phone on the curb.
[Jealousy — 31%]
A woman dragging two grocery bags.
[Exhaustion — 68%]
At this point, Sylus pretends not to check people's tag to know if maybe it will disappear, but it never did, and that was enough doubt. Because now that he could see them, he couldn't unsee them and there's nothing he can do.
Sylus shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Are you going to keep staring at people like that?" a small voice chirped beside him.
Pippin floated lazily near his shoulder, spinning slowly in the air like a glowig marble. Sylus didn't look at it.
"Stop talking in public."
"No one can hear me," Pippin said cheerfully.
"Still."
Pippin giggled. The spirit drifted upside down in front of Sylus' face.
"Aw, are you embarrassed about your new companion?"
"You're not my companion."
"Ouch."
Sylus stepped down into the subway entrance, ignoring it. The underground station was packed with evening commuters. The air smelled faintly of rust and instant noodles from the convenience stall nearby.
Emotion tags flickered everywhere now, too many. Sylus frowned slightly. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was… distracting, like walking through a room full of whispering voices.
He boarded the train quietly.
Pippin floated beside him, legs crossed like it had its own invisible chair.
"So where are we going?" it asked.
"Work."
"Ooooh," Pippin said with interest. "Illegal work?"
Sylus shot it a look.
Pippin grinned. "I can tell, you know."
"Tell what?"
"You're seventeen," Pippin said matter-of-factly. "And that building you go to every night? They don't hire minors."
Sylus didn't respond. The train rattled forward, outside the window, the city blurred past in streaks.
Pippin leaned closer, lowering its voice to a whisper.
"You're committing a labor violation."
Sylus sighed.
"You're very talkative for something that threatens to kill me."
"I'm bubbly," Pippin corrected proudly.
"Annoying."
"Bubbly and annoying."
The train screeched to a stop at the next station. Sylus stood. Twenty minutes later he stepped onto a quieter street downtown. Tall buildings stood above like silent judges. Office lights glowed in neat grids across the glass towers.
Most people are leaving work now, Sylus was just arriving. The building he stopped in front of looked ordinary enough, thirty floors of steel and dark glass.
The sign read:
KIERAN DATA SOLUTIONS
To most people, it was just another analytics firm. To Sylus, it was a job he technically wasn't allowed to have. He adjusted his jacket. The clothes he wore was carefully handpicked: slightly oversized suit jacket, buttoned shirt, neutral trousers.
Nothing flashy, but enough to make him look older. Twenty… maybe twenty-one if the lighting was bad.
"Ahhh," Pippin hummed.
The spirit floated up beside the building sign.
"So this is the place."
Sylus entered through the revolving doors. The lobby was quiet. Security desk to the left. Elevators straight ahead. The security guard barely looked up.
Sylus nodded politely and walked past. He had learned something important during the months working here. Confidence was half the disguise. People rarely questioned someone who looked like they belonged.
The elevator doors slid open, he stepped inside.
Pippin moved above the control panel.
"Ooooh," it whispered. "Corporate crime."
Sylus pressed Floor 14.
"Quiet."
"Or what?"
Sylus looked up at it calmly. "Or I'll start pressing your trigger buttons."
Pippin gasped dramatically. "You wouldn't dare!"
The elevator dinged. Fourteenth floor. The doors opened to a dim office space filled with computer terminals. Most of the employees here worked night shifts analyzing market data and scraping online financial systems. Which was a polite way of saying…they worked in gray areas. Not exactly illegal but not exactly legal either.
Sylus walked to his desk in the corner. He kept his head down. Minimal conversation and attention. That was how he had survived here.
Until tonight.
Because Pippin floated happily behind him like a glowing balloon.
"Wow," the spirit whispered.
"So many guilty people here."
Sylus opened his laptop. Emotion tags flickered across the room.
[Greed — 54%]
[Stress — 63%]
[Ambition — 48%]
Office workers typing rapidly. Phone calls. Quiet arguments. Everything was normal. Except now Sylus could see what everyone was feeling. It made the room feel… exposed.
Pippin drifted around the desks curiously.
"You know," it said thoughtfully, "this company is fascinating."
"How?"
"Half the people here are lying about something."
Sylus didn't answer, helogged into the system and began working. Data streams filled the screen. Stock movement patterns. Automated scripts.
Nothing unusual, but something about tonight felt… off.
A few minutes later, the elevator dinged again. Sylus didn't look up at first, then he heard footsteps, slow and controlled.
He glanced toward the entrance and a girl stepped into the office. Long dark hair, school uniform jacket replaced with a black coat. Sharp eyes scanning the room like she didn't trust anything in it.
Sylus froze.
Pippin gasped. "Oh."
Sylus frowned slightly because he recognized her. Lyra, she sat two rows ahead of him in class. They had never spoken, not once. And yet…here she was. In the exact same illegal workplace.
Lyra approached the manager's desk quietly. They spoke briefly, then the manager gestured toward an empty workstation. Two desks away from Sylus. Lyra walked over and sat down.
Sylus returned his eyes to the screen. But his mind was racing. What is she doing here?
Pippin floated beside him, whispering excitedly.
"Scandal."
"Shut up."
"Two underage workers in one shady company? This is drama!"
Sylus kept typing, but he glanced sideways briefly. Lyra logged into the computer beside him like she had done it a hundred times before.
Sylus leaned back slightly. Quietly.
"You shouldn't be here," he murmured under his breath.
Lyra didn't look at him. "You either," she replied.
Her voice was calm.
Sylus studied the screen again. "So why are you?"
Lyra typed a few commands. "Money."
"Well, I'm paying the debts my dad left before he died."
That made Lyra face crumple into concern, then Lyra spoke again.
"Sorry about that. But do you know how illegal this place is?"
Sylus shrugged. "I assumed moderately."
"Severely."
Pippin giggled. "Oh this is good."
Sylus ignored it. Lyra finally glanced sideways at him.
"Relax," she said quietly. "I'm not here to report you."
Sylus met her gaze briefly. "Okay—"
Then she leaned back in her chair. "And you're not reporting me either."
"Sure."
For the next hour they worked quietly. But Sylus could feel something building. Someone was watching. Sylus slowly looked around the office. One of the supervisors stood near the glass office at the back.
Watching employees. Watching… them.
Pippin whispered. "Oh dear."
"What?"
"That man," the spirit said.
"He knows something's wrong."
Sylus' fingers paused over the keyboard. The supervisor began walking across the room, straight toward their desks. Lyra noticed too. She leaned slightly toward Sylus.
"Act normal," she murmured.
"I am normal."
"Less tense normal."
The supervisor stopped beside them. He looked at Lyra then Sylus. Then their screens.
"You two new?" he asked.
Lyra nodded casually. "Transferred from data review."
The man frowned slightly. Sylus forced himself not to react.
Pippin hovered behind the supervisor making exaggerated faces.
"This is awkward."
The supervisor stared a moment longer. Then finally said,
"Keep working."
He walked away. Sylus exhaled slowly. Lyra spoke quietly without looking up.
"That was close."
"You handled it well."
Sylus leaned back in his chair, the tension eased slightly. Across the desk, Lyra glanced at him briefly. And for a split second…her emotion tag flickered. Before changing to something else.
Sylus didn't notice the shift, but Pippin did. The spirit's cheerful smile slowly faded.
"Hmm."
Sylus glanced up. "What?"
Pippin stared at Lyra. For the first time since appearing…the spirit looked concerned.
"Nothing," it said quietly.
But its eyes remained fixed on her. Something about Lyra…didn't follow the system's rules.