Chapter Text
Hello.
My name is Nova Solstice Light Weave and I’m 18 years old. I have no time for nonsense, which is why I’ve calculated the most algorithmically efficient way to style myself: dirty blonde hair in a simple ponytail, my HoloClothes ™ calibrated to a white button-down and slacks, and a simple CowSim™ leather satchel by my side to carry my CroweBook™. CroweNet™’s calculations recommended a respectable two NeuroTats™— tasteful butterflies printed on both ankles— but CroweNet misunderstands me. My nails are short. My PulsePalm™ is set to greyscale. I am not wearing makeup.
MIS-U² was playing from my little sister Caeli’s NeoPad™, on her side of the MoodRoom™. I could tell she was delighted, what with the HeartWalls™ lighting up bright yellow and all. Synths mixed with— presumably other instruments that also have names— as the dancers gyrated against a background of pulsating holographic FaerieFire™. It was cacophonous.
“Ugh, will you turn that off?”
“Are you kidding?” she grinned. “This is, like, the concert of the millennium! Everyone on CroweChat™ is talking about it!”
“I’m trying to balance our books. Besides, CroweChat’s rotting your brain.”
"It's not rotting anything," Caeli said, a faraway look in her eyes. "It's our ticket to freedom."
I rolled my eyes and stared back at my CroweBook— rows upon rows of nice, cozy numbers. Caeli must have seen the exasperation on my face, because she turned down the volume a bit. MIS-U² chugged along quietly.
“I’m serious, Nova! Enough followers on CroweChat and— and we'd be free. Mom and Dad wouldn't have to work all the time. You wouldn't have to study all those numbers.”
"I like numbers," I said, a bit wounded.
“Okay, but— but it'd be for fun then. We'd be rolling in CroweCredits™. We wouldn't have to live in Omega-Block. I could go to W1ldCl1ff and be a celebrity technomage!”
I snorted. “And a CroweFluencer™?”
“Why not?” she beamed. “Joan Kingsley did it.”
“Joan Kingsley is a show-off.”
“But she's so cool!”
I stuck out my tongue. “And while you're bopping to that awful music and posting HoloSelfies™, I'll be getting us out of debt. Did you know that if we can prove Dad's NeuroTats are a business expense, we can slash our credit obligations by twenty—”
“Ughhhhh.” Caeli grabbed her DreamPillow™ and flopped into it. Muffled, she grumbled, “Is math all you think about?”
“Yes,” I said. I sighed and shook my head. “Someone has to.”
Caeli's HeartWalls faded to grey. I felt a bit guilty.
“Okay, okay," I said, "You can turn up MIS-U². But only for five minutes.”
“Yes! Yes! Thank you! I mean it’s not pronounced like that because the squared symbol is silent but thank you so much!!!!!” Caeli hollered with joy, and pink lit up the room. The infernal synths banged around our four corners as the holograms clapped their hands in perfect time. Sparks flew from all of their fingertips. Drums or whatever thumped along in the background. Fine, at least this one was a little bit catch—
My NeoPad beeped.
The screen filled with text.
I stared at it.
No.
This can't be real.
I stared at it again.
My side of the MoodRoom glowed icy blue.
“Are you okay, Nova?” Caeli asks. “You’re as green as a patch of GrassSim™.”
“This is…” I was too stunned to speak. “This must be a— an error message, or—”
“CroweNet doesn't have errors. What does it say?”
“We need to get out of here, Caeli. We'll talk about it in the CogniCar™. We'll—”
But it was too late. I could hear the buzzing and cawing outside my room. I'd heard it so many times, but it never came for me before. It was unmistakable: the CroweDrones™ were descending.
I stared one more time at the message on the screen.
Notice of Asset Transfer: Nova Solstice Light Weave hereby transferred to CroweNet Holdings™. Light Weave family account granted temporary debt injunction under Clause 17B. Transaction complete.
Before I could react, the door to our room slid open. Mom stood in the doorway, eyes red-rimmed and shoulders shaking.
“Mom,” I said, clutching my NeoPad with trembling hands. “What is this?”
Her tears spilled over. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I didn’t think they’d come this quickly…”
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“Nova, I didn't have a choice. We owe so much. We needed the CroweCredits. The algorithms made an offer… it’s for all of us. I promise.”
Caeli gasped. “You sold Nova? To CroweNet?”
“Not directly,” Mom wept. “To… to one of their subsidiaries. They said you'd be... sent to W1ldcl1ff. That you'd belong to MIS-U²…”
I dropped the NeoPad. It snapped beneath my feet. “I’m being sold to a band???”
“Nova, please. You need to pack your things. I’m so sorry. We don’t have much time before—”
The window shattered in a storm of chromium.
The buzzing drowned everything out: Caeli’s indignant yells. My mother’s sobs. Even the synthesized music of MIS-U²… of my new owners. The metallic CroweDrones filled the room, flapping their sleek metal wings in an imposing circle directly above me. I was paralyzed. My whole life— my math, my family, my hobby— was about to be ripped away from me. I didn’t know what to do.
The metal birds descended. Mechanical talons shot from beneath them, grabbing me on each arm. My vision blurred with tears. It was too late. Too late to run. Too late to hide. But then—
Caeli thrust it into my hands— my trusty CroweBook. All my numbers. My data. My journal entries. I held onto it for dear life as I lifted off the ground. “Be brave, Nova,” she whispered. “I’d better see you on the NeoPad.”
“I love you both!” I shouted as they started to carry me away, the cold wind from outside whipping my ponytail into a frenzy.
Caeli screamed my name, reaching out, but I was swiftly pulled out of the window, the night sky swallowing me whole.
The drones were pulling me higher than I'd ever been before as I clutched my numbers close to me. A single tear ran down my face. I soared above the apartment blocks, above the rows of TechnoLights™, above the blinking of CroweNet’s neon cloud. High above me, and far in the distance, a floating hovercraft loomed. W1ldcl1ff. My new reality.
Sold to MIS-U². Just like that.
I turned my head to the star-lit sky and whispered, “Help me, Math. Help me find the way home.”
But I already knew the answer. I was on my own.
And I belonged to W1ldcl1ff now.