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Toht when they battled in Samurai Eternity, and Toh," Vik cried, tearing off his wired gloves, as the statue boomed, "IT IS 2115 AND THE GORMLESS CRETIN SAYS: DERP!"

"Oh, look at your head, dripping with blood and subcutaneous tissue," Toloves "What is it saying? What is it?" He leaned in closer "It says, ‘Tom will beat you to death with your own head if that statue doesn’t stop talking’"

Vik scratched his real head "Is that what it said? I have this feeling my head is very articulate, but whenever you translate so, all I hear is ‘derp, derp, derp, derp, derp’ That’s sorirasped Vik’s si Vik over the virtual shoulders with it as Vik cackled away Then Vik reared up, hands aloft, and surrendered He deleted the audio feature froormless cretin statue beca to hih: he was extremely pleased with the new bunk template All the emptiness he’d felt without Vik in there had been chased away by the decorations, the visible warning that his best friend would be tor him for years to come, whether they were roommates or not

CHAPTER SIX

FRIDAY MORNING, TOM woke up to a ping: Consciousness initiated The ti demanded that he select his attire for his visit to the Coalition co requested he select a departure time between 0600 and 0700 Tom found Vik’s name already in a slot and selected that one

To proh question after question He chose the first option for color of tie, the first style of suit, the first style of loafer, and kept going through the text that way until it stopped annoying him After his shower, he followed the directions in his neural processor to the twelfth-floor depository There, he found hie room filled with rounded, plastic drawers One of the drawers in the wall slid open, revealing a suit and shirt hanging on a rack Toed off his uniform, and pulled the out shoes, socks, and a tie To only when the tie was in hand; he couldn’t help reritted his teeth and put it on anyway Then he hurled his unifor laundry chute and set off downstairs

Vik met hi They were both startled when Yuri arrived in a suit of his own

"What are you doing, man?" Vik exclai sos"

"I have been invited to accompany you"

"Really? That’s aweson if Yuri was allowed to attend an event just for Middles

But there was soh he smiled "Yes It is"

WHEN WYATT JOINED them, they headed to the Mezzanine It wasn’t listed as an official floor in the Spire, but the instructions in their neural processors told theet down there Yuri had received a special exemption to unlock the Mezzanine in his processor, so he spent the whole ride pressing the To honest," Yuri said

"We totally are," To court You are inventing this"

"Frankly, I’nantly "Because of this, we’re not bringing you to the CNRC next tio, are we, Tom?"

Tom shook his head "No way If you don’t believe us, you don’t romp in our court You can romp in someone else’s court"