It was three months since I let my sister Macie into my dorm. None of what happened between us was how I thought it would be. Not even close.

It was better.

We tried to clean my room like we were supposed to, but more often we watched movies and ate whatever I could stash in my coat from the cafeteria. It was, I'll admit it, my favorite part of the day. Just knowing I had someone there for me when I got back. It was kind of like I had a home again, almost.

My days now revolved around work hours and sessions with Gen. I hardly saw the others anymore. I would see Valen sometimes, but she looked too upset to say anything more than a hello.

Mat, I saw most often but after he found out about Macie and I he had asked Gen to allow his mother to be his assistant. He had his own family now too.

And Nate, he was more of a ghost to me than any of them, but I didn't like to think on it too much. I had just gotten my family back. I needed to be happy about something.

It was on one of these nights, Macie and I were huddled in a blanket in my bed tucked high in the ceiling. It was late and almost time for her to go. I had was just finishing a piece of chocolate cake wrapped in a soggy napkin, when the emergency feed projected onto the wall and the Union's anthem sounded throughout the room's speaker.

"Good evening, residents," Gen said, with the widest smile I had ever seen stretched across her tan face, "When my father founded this great Union, he had a noble vision. A vision of a world in which the achievements of mankind were only limited by its own diligence. It has been a great honor to carry-on this vision and see it embodied in each and every one of you," Gen took a long pause, a sparkle shone in her ice blue eyes.

"It is with great pleasure that I announce - there has been a successful reproduction of the Evergreen cell."

The Evergreen cell. A gasp came from Macie's open mouth.

It was the reasons for our countless lab hours. A human cell capable of rapid healing on its own.

From the floors below and above, there were shouts all of the same word, who, who did it.

"The person or group responsible have all chosen to remain anonymous and will not be accepting their reward of lifetime contributions."

"But why," Macie said and spit out a piece of cake from her mouth, "Who would do something like that?"

She was right to question it. It seemed almost everyone in the upper city was racing to be known as the first to reproduce the Evergreen cell, or at least become a lifetimer. It seemed unlikely anyone would give up either, never mind both.

"As promised, this technology will be distributed first to those with the highest contribution balances, then last to any person who has donated to the Union."

I turned to Macie, "So does that mean?"

Macie nodded slowly, tears filling her tired brown eyes.

"I'm getting my arm back," she said.

I swung my arms around her shoulder, spilling bits of cake down her back.

It was a happy day. Something I hadn't seen or felt in so long, but we weren't the only ones celebrating.

The next day, I had been invited to a lunch party with Valen.

Court, Valen supervisor, was having an "invite-only" Evergreen party in her dorm. I didn't really want to go, but I had no excuse. Work hours had been canceled for a week as a gift to all residents.

To be honest Valen's new "friends" made me uneasy. They were friendly and all, maybe a little too nice, and as long as you were one of them, they were alright with you. But I wasn't one of them and wasn't about to pretend to be either.

I wore a plain yellow dress, tied my hair back the best my unruly curls would allow and kept my work shoes on. I had the impression this was a dressy occasion by the silver letters and sleek black silhouette of the invitation, but I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. That is if I was going to make a quick getaway. When I met Mat in the hall, I could tell he had the same idea.

"Sup," he said to me, swinging on the heels of his sandals.

"Oh, just wishing I was on my way somewhere else," I said and continued walking up the hall toward the elevator.

"You too, huh?" he said as he followed me.

"Yeah, but at least I won't be the only one underdressed," I said, looking him up and down.

Mat was wearing a plain shirt and cotton shorts that looked like pajamas.

If I had known he was dressing like this, I would have worn pants too. I could take on twice the stares with him beside me like this.

We arrived on the 74th floor, to the 749throom and pressed the button on the door's keypad. I could already hear the sounds of upbeat music coming behind the steel walls. We waited for what felt like a lifetime when the hinges of the door unlocked.

"Hellooooo-" Court said, her words lively and slurred, "Welcome! Come in!"

Court wore a long black dress with silver straps and her chestnut hair down in voluminous curls. She carried a curved glass, overflowing with a bubbly pink drink. Behind her, the dorm identical to my own was filled with many people. Some I had seen before, some who I only knew from their popular network feeds but most were strangers. They all crowded around in tight circles with drinks and plates of food in hand.

"Thanks for inviting us," I said before stepping in.

"Yeah, thanks!" Mat said and took a square of cheese from a snack table nearby.

"No, thank you," Court said, her eyes narrowed on our clothes as she flipped back the silver streak of her hair.

"Have you seen Valen?" I asked.

"Follow me!" Court said, as turned and her long black gown dragged behind.

We followed her through the crowds and decorated tables filled with more food. Mat filled his plate along the way.

"Right over there," Court said and directed her glass towards a corner of the room.

Valen sat in a circle of chairs, dressed in a black knee-length dress. It was then I noticed everyone was dressed in all black too, except for Mat and I.

I understood it was a special occasion, but I didn't know there was a color code too.

Valens eyes broke from the crowd and looked at us. Her eyes scanned us almost the same way Court's did. Down to our clothes and then up to our faces. Valen smiled, a bit too brief before she said our names.

"Evee - Mat," Valen said and put down her drink to the table, "You're here?"

"Yeah, well we were invited," I said and crossed my arms.

"It's just, I didn't think you would make it," she said and looked around.

"You kidding? We wouldn't miss free food - I mean this for anything," Mat said with a full mouth.

A guest beside Mat turned away from his open mouth with a scowl.

"Come, sit down," Valen said, a moved to another seat.

Her voice was foreign. She sounded like Valen but the way she said everything, like her upright chin, was lifting her words, it made her sound like someone else. Someone, I definitely did not like.

As we sat down, my ear focused on the conversation of those seated next to us.

"Absolutely reprehensible!" a gray-haired man with thick-framed black glasses said.

"Roger!" a woman said, behind her hand, "You can't say things like that!"

"Why not?" Roger replied, "My father did not spread eighty-three years of his life, for some damn rotter to see the fruits of his work before he did."

"He's right you know," another woman interjected, "We'll be smelling their filth for ages to come, all thanks to the bleeding heart of Ms. Vossler."

"Bleeding heart!" Roger spit as he laughed, "Says to me, I could have sat on my arse eating free food too, then spend years of schools and countless nights directing research," he said and stood up, "Rotters should stay how they are, rotting and dead!"

A chorus of laughs and cheers rounded the circle and beyond. Searing anger rushed through my veins as the word rotter seeped into my understanding. They meant people in the lower city. People like my sister.

"Rotting and dead!" Roger cheered again, this time towards the others circles.

I stood from my own chair and grabbed a glass off a nearby table.

"The only person whose rotten is you!" I said and threw the drink into Roger's smug face.

Roger removed his dripping glasses from his face to rub at his wincing eyes.

The other guests had back away from the scene.

"Are you insane, little girl?" Roger shouted back.

"No, but I might be," Mat said, and threw his plate on top of Roger's head.

Roger let out a howl as the sauces of Mat's plate dripped down the side of his ear, but his cries were drowned out by the other guest's shrieks.

"Let's get out of this dump," Mat said, his eyes filled with more disgust that I had ever seen from him before.

"Sure thing," I said and turned to Valen.

Valen was red in the face but not from anger. Was that, embarrassment?

"What did you two do?" Valen wailed as she rushed to Roger's side.

"What did we do?!" I said,

Mat pinched the back of my arm, "Evee, let's just go."

I didn't want to go. I needed to understand.

Valen looked up at us one last time, her hands on Roger's shoulders as others patted down his eyes and face with a napkin.

Her blistering stare let me know all I needed to.

We had ruined everything.

I wish I could have told her, she had ruined much much more.