Christian walked through the doorway he had seen Kam go through earlier. It led through a narrow hallway, the walls along which were still plastered in wiring. A door to the left of him spewed fluorescent white-blue light into the otherwise dim corridor. Christian, curious as always, walked into the room to investigate.

He found Kam sitting in front of a glowing monitor. His right hand grasped a white semi-sphere connected to a metal box. His left hand clicked anxiously away at a rectangular pad, full of square buttons covered in letters and symbols.

Christian analyzed the scene, and his face lit up with understanding.

"Holy crap! That's a computer, isn't it?" he said excitedly, breaking the perfect silence with his observation.

"Aaah!" Kameron yelped and turned around sharply, "What the hell, man? You scared the living shit outta me!"

"Shhh!" Christian hissed, putting a finger to his lips, "Gloria's asleep…"

"Oh…" Kameron said, "Oh!" He suddenly remembered the computer, and spun around in his chair. He rapidly closed about twenty windows, but not before Christian caught half a glance of a nude blonde haired woman.

"Hehehe…Sorry about that. Uhm...Anyways…" Kam looked uneasy with the stranger, "Err…Well yeah, that's a computer."

Christian peered up from his feet, his face was flushed red. "Do all computers contain naked women?" Ach! He thought, Why can't the smart-ass in me just shut up for once? Was that really necessary? Jesus, there was no need to piss him off, stupid!

Kameron faked a smile, "Eh…Well, uhm, no… That was a…uhm…a virus! Damn those hackers! Putting things where they don't belong…"

Christian, naïve but not that stupid, saw straight through Kameron's lie. He decided to be courteous though, seeing as it probably wouldn't help him to piss off a guy who could've been watching him for years. That realization made him shudder.

"Ahh…of course. Hackers…"

Just as an awkward silence began to set in, there was a yawn at the door. Christian and Kameron both looked up to see Gloria's stretching silhouette in the door frame.

Both their teenage hearts' melted.

"Mmph…Good morning, boys. What's with the yelling?" Gloria asked groggily.

"Oh, sorry Gloria…I just walked in on Kameron and he got a little scared, that's all. You can go back to sleep if you want…"

"Hey! I wasn't scared! I was…concerned!" Kam scrambled defensively for words and then added, "Besides, I wouldn't have yelled at all if Christopher here hadn't been sneaking around like some hired assassin!"

"It's CHRISTIAN. CHRIS—TIAN. Need me to spell it out for you? And I wasn't 'sneaking around'! If you weren't so caught up in your porn, maybe you would've heard me come in!"

Kameron started to yell something back, but Gloria cut him off.

"Whoa there! Chill out you two! Jesus…" She put her fingers up to her forehead and the bridge of her nose, like an impatient mother handling her fighting children. "Kameron, no cyber-sluts when we have guests over, got it? Come on Christian, there's been an incident in the assembly hall and all the officers are busy. Time to go!"

"We're leaving?"

"That is what I said." Gloria replied, "Go get your briefcase, it's on the couch. Meet me at the back door, right over there." She pointed down the hallway to a grimy screen door.

She pulled her jacket up over her shoulders as Christian walked to the living room for his belongings. "I'm gonna take a lunchable, 'kay? I doubt the kid's eaten anything since this morning." Even though she knew he was a month older, the nickname stuck.

"Yeah, alright. Should be in the mini-fridge… How'd you know about the assembly incident?"

"That? You left your security camera feed on, the T.V. right on the back wall. First thing I see when I wake up; the place has about twenty fire-trucks around it and every officer in the city playing crowd control. Lucky us!" She bent down to the miniature refrigerator, more of a cooler really, and pulled out a small pack of food.

"Oh. Yeah, lucky. So…When do you think you're gonna be back?" Kameron asked, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"I don't know, man. Whenever the next riot is, I guess."

"Oh…" Kam sighed. He knew that would mean another couple months of isolation. Eating instant ramen, watching old reality T.V. shows, and watching the streets of Suburbia for suspicious activity that never occurred.

"I'm sure there will be some spy activity running through every once in a while. That and supply shipments…" Gloria said, knowing what he was thinking.

"Still…I'm going to miss you…" Kameron said, his voice nearly cracking on the last word.

"C'mon, I'll be back before you know it! I'll see ya round, Kam!"

She turned and walked to the back door, tapping Christian on the shoulder to get his attention. He had been preoccupied with a microwave, sitting just inside a room near the back.

"Curious little bugger, eh? That's a microwave, you cook food with it. Don't you have them back in the 'burbs?"

"Yeah…but they work with bar code scanners…So nobody can blow stuff up…" He set the microwave to popcorn and pressed start. The machine whirred and lit up, despite there being nothing inside it.

Gloria quickly pressed cancel. "Wow…You have a lot to learn. Let's get going then…" She turned to the door and twisted the handle. The door was reluctant to open, stuck shut by rust and dirt, so she persuaded it into moving with the help of her shoulder. She held the door for Christian, who walked out onto the back porch and looked at the barren western landscape.

Turning back again, she faced Kameron, who was standing in the hallway waiting for her to leave. She gave him a salute and smiled. "Good luck, oh brave soldier! May the internet be non-glitchy and free of Rick rolling!"

He saluted back weakly, his smile forced but doing its job.

Gloria stepped outside and the door shut with a barely audible "click".