Enhanced

Urban swerved in surprise. Steadying her grip, she stared at the file. How had it followed her out of her work profile? It shouldn’t have been able to do that. She tried to open it.

<Incorrect. One remaining attempt before engaging lock-out protocol.>

Urban was still brainstorming possible answers when the colorful cityscape of the Metropolis came into view. Her retina display sent a warning, and she immediately spotted the source.

A smart light blinked on. Smart lights conserved energy by only activating when they sensed oncoming traffic. They also had the unfortunate ability to clock a vehicle’s speed and report anything above the limit.

Urban slammed on her brakes seconds before she reached the light. The last thing she needed was a pending sosh infringement. Mother and Father would be furious.

As soon as she passed the smart light she accelerated again.

Rapidly accelerating and decelerating past smart lights required a manual override, which had been easy for Urban to hack. Now, she could go as fast as she wanted, so long as she paid attention to upcoming lights.

It was one of the few glitches left in the system.

Her system alerted her to the approach of the Metropolis. White zones had filtered air, clean water, and reduced toxins. They were generally the healthiest environments to live in and comprised the most desirable real estate. Most importantly, they were safe.

She slowed as she approached the barrier that separated the white from the yellow zone. The Zeolite coating was soft and bouncy to her feet as she leaned from side to side to keep her balance.

The coating helped to absorb carbon dioxide emissions, and fresh air instantly filled her mask. Her filtration system clicked off. The sky cleared and giant skyscrapers loomed high. Above the colossal structures, the latest model of delivery drones and small single-person aircraft flew in orderly lines.

Colorful advertisements played on the sides of the buildings. Below them, malls blasted music, and people ladened with giant shopping bags laughed as they strolled leisurely. The scent of jasmine and the sound of K-pop reached her as she passed one of the top designer shops.

Urban wove in and out of the streets full of autonomous cars carrying passengers who were busy eating, relaxing, or engaged in the all-encompassing QuanNao reality world as they rode back home. The traffic was slow tonight, but not for her.

She arrived in thirty minutes flat.

Still congratulating herself, Urban made her way into a quiet lobby with a bot concierge that ignored her. The switch from human guards to bots had reduced rent rate for those who didn’t own their homes. But it had cost the apartment complex a sosh point.

Urban sprang to the public bathroom and threw her backpack onto the sink counter. She stripped out of her Outskirts clothes and tore a brush through tangled knots of matted hair. Pulling out her retina display, she added lubricant to a new pair, then popped them back into her eye. Even after years of practice, it took two times to get them in. Urban huffed in annoyance before switching modes so that her eye color shifted from standard black to an expensive model of deep mossy green.

Rapidly, she applied a thin tube to her lips, which extracted the natural pH levels and left them a rosy red. She slipped on a simple but elegant dress and a diamond necklace. After spritzing herself with perfume, she checked her reflection.

Even wearing the latest luxury brands, and with makeup evening out her skin, she still didn’t look exactly Enhanced. Her face wasn’t symmetrically beautiful, nor was her skin porcelain smooth, nor her curves perfectly proportioned.

She was too skinny. Her lips weren’t plump enough, and her jaw was too defiant. Her large, attentive black eyes were the one feature she was proud of. But even they were the wrong color for the Enhanced. She typically turned them green in the Metropolis.

It was always easier to disguise herself as someone from the Outskirts than as an Enhanced. But she would do whatever it took tonight to keep anyone from suspecting she was actually a Natural by birth. Otherwise, she could end up on the streets like the homeless Flyer. Thinking about the man’s dirty, defeated wings made her gut churn.

Taking in a deep breath, she stuffed her smelly Outskirts clothes into the bag, then darted toward the elevator. “One hundred and thirty first floor,” she commanded. She scanned her tatt, then the elevator shot upward. Her ears popped twice before it slowed, then stopped.

Exiting the elevator, she made her way down a dark marble hallway. Two funeral-black doors stood rigid at the end.

Before she even had a chance to knock, the doors swung open. Light and music flooded around her. Urban blinked as a servant handed her a warm towelette and bowed deeply. “Welcome home, Miss Lee.”

Urban waved the towelette away. “Are they here?”

“Yes, Miss Lee. Everyone is already in the Great Hall.” The attendant hesitated. “The mistress awaits you.”

“I know. I know. Take me to her.” Urban followed the maid through hallways, flanked by priceless artifacts and collectors’ silk paintings featuring ancient temples, bridges, and foreboding mountains.

Such opulence. Her parents were well-known in the city and had paved the way for their three children to follow in their successful footsteps. Being an artist, of course, did not align with those ambitions.

“Art is too risky for a Natural like you and could expose the whole family,” Mother had warned. “You need a career where no one will suspect you don’t have genetic enhancements. You need to pursue the Giver track.”

But Urban didn’t want to be a psychologist, coach, or humanitarian worker. Helping the Enhanced live to their best potential when she wasn’t even one of them seemed like an impossibility.

She imagined it would be similar to her job in the Outskirts, where she daily pretended to be something she wasn’t and did work that drained her. Only with better hours and benefits.

A giant white cat with bright purple spots appeared out of thin air next to her, and Urban smiled.

“Well, hello there.” Urban reached down to pet the cat without breaking stride. “Did you miss me Baozi?”

Baozi, the Enhanced house cat, was almost as big as a tiger but gentle and with the manners of a pet. In addition to his exotic coloring, he also could blend in with his surroundings like a chameleon. The entire family had quickly regretted that specific enhancement.

Baozi meowed and kept pace with Urban but then disappeared as she reached the gathering.

The sounds of the Great Hall reached Urban first. Plucked dings and musical vibrations of the zither echoed as guests chattered. Glassware clinked and a fountain trickled.

These were familiar sounds to anyone associated with her parents’ fancy banquets, frequently held for business purposes or boosting their sosh. None of their three children were allowed to participate, least of all Urban.

So it seemed strange that this banquet was in honor of her graduation from high school. Naturals weren’t exactly forbidden from going to university. No Naturals had wanted to go anyway, after a Natural student had been made an example of over a decade ago.

The student had been brutally murdered by the SAS, or Supers Against Soups, the underground organization started by Supers who killed Naturals that attempted to mix with the Enhanced. It had expanded to include members from other gene pools, but the name had stuck.

Mother had read the story in full gory detail to Urban when she was only seven years old. “This is why you have to be careful,” Mother had explained. “There will always be people who look down on you because of your genetics. They don’t want you mixing with their own kind.”

Urban had cried, but her mother had continued unphased. “It’s just the way things are. You can either cry about it or do something. Your best weapon is your sosh. The higher the score, the less suspicious people will be. They’ll assume you’re one of them. Promise me you’ll focus on getting a good sosh.”

Her mother had eyed Urban critically, then tipped her chin gently up. “Your second-best weapon is learning to control your emotions. Stop crying.”

Now Urban watched with stone-cold eyes as the two Inventors guards flanking the entrance opened the doors. Dread knotted her stomach, but she held her head high.

A gold chandelier dangled from the glass ceiling, and a full-sized tree, made entirely from jade, stretched from one corner of the room to the other. The windows were lined with priceless petrified wood from the Qing dynasty, and the glittering floors were made of black onyx, mother of pearl, abalone shell, and diamonds.

At the center of the room stood a four-story-high fish tank. Exotic varieties of fish darted in unison, marine plant life swayed peacefully, and a mini golden castle glimmered in artificial sunlight.

Urban despised everything about that gaudy castle and tank. Guests with underwater enhancements—or Aquas—dressed in their finest water XR suits swam through it. They floated under the castle or lounged at a bar with tubes to suck on their drinks. Waterbots resembling metal octopi served the guests seafood hors d’oeuvres with their multiple arms. An Aqua nodded at one of the netted platters of food, and the waiterbot opened it to reveal tofu, which the guest stabbed with a mini prong before it could float away, then shoved it into his mouth.

Usually, the tank was used for Father’s work. Once the Federation realized space colonization was impractical due to the ablation cascade, only the elite and military were expanding slowly into safe pockets of space.

The savvy business executives turned to a cheaper final frontier: the ocean. As an Inventor, Father had invested in and helped design one of the first five underwater shopping centers. He’d built this tank to experiment with different concepts. They’d also given Urban’s brother Aqua enhancements so he could one day take over the family business.

A guest in the tank waved good-bye to a huddle of Aquas and headed toward a translucent bubble at the edge of the tank. She stepped in and it closed behind her. The water drained away, and a powerful gust of air blow-dried her. Then she stepped out and joined all the non-marine Enhanced guests.

Another movement in the tank caught Urban’s eye. An Aqua wearing bright orange swim attire moved near the bottom of the tank. Urban realized he was sparring with another Aqua, showing off his underwater fight moves. A group of Aqua girls gathered around. They wore flowing dresses that resembled mermaid tails and released bubbles of laughter as they watched. Urban would recognize the flirtatious behavior of her older brother Lucas anywhere.

She would not forget the time Lucas had convinced her to swim with him in that tank. She had been seven. He’d dragged her to the very bottom until all her air ran out. She struggled to get free as terror rendered her mind useless.

As her vision turned black, she clawed wildly at him, but his grip didn’t loosen. Urban might have had a chance at a fair fight if she’d arrived at her parents’ doorsteps with enhancements—like she was supposed to.

“Give up yet?” Lucas had taunted, his overly perfect face inches from her own.

Though she was convinced her lungs had collapsed, she refused to surrender. She may not have been as strong, but she realized she had two options. One, be crushed by her genetic superiors. Or two, do whatever it took to survive. She chose the latter.

She punched Lucas hard in the groin, and he instantly released her.

Lucas had been grounded for the incident, but that didn’t make up for Urban’s recurring nightmares. She hadn’t gone swimming since. Seeing the tank now, with Lucas inside, caused her to turn away.

Fighting against her genetic superiors had been a daily battle since she’d first been taken from the Outskirts full of Naturals to the Metropolis to live with the Enhanced. Anyone in the Metropolis might guess she had basic enhancements like strengthened bones, increased lung capacity, or a stronger immune system. Despite her asthmatic lungs, which had nearly exposed her on multiple occasions, Urban’s family and her boyfriend were the sole individuals who knew the truth. She just hoped she could fool everyone else at university when she left in two days.

Her pulse quickened at the thought.

She scanned the hall for a familiar face. No fewer than a hundred guests, all dressed in their finest, mingled at booths or reclined on plush couches. A mixture of maidbots and Naturals waited on them.

A woman with elegant hair, pulled back into a bun, and a tight smile glided toward her. She held herself regally and walked with the grace of a Flower-Drum Dancer. Her eyes, painted and stunning, were like fire.

“I’ve brought Urban to you, mistress.” The attendant next to Urban bowed and left.

The woman surveyed Urban critically. “You’re late.”

“Hello, Mother.”

The woman’s mouth tightened. She leaned closer. “Of all the nights to make a grand entrance, tonight is not the one. You mustn’t let anyone know you’re not,” she lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper, “Enhanced.”

Urban wanted to groan in frustration. Pretending to be Enhanced was a normal way of life. If either of her two siblings had been standing there instead, Mother surely wouldn’t be treating them like children.

Something stabbed at Urban’s waist. She looked down and found it was her mother’s progressive silk dress with its layers of blood-red and cream fabric jutting out sharply at the midsection and into Urban’s side.

Urban frowned. This was the dress Mother was saving for a special occasion. Urban wondered why she was wearing it now. Her graduation certainly didn’t warrant it.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Mother stopped abruptly as her gaze flickered over Urban’s shoulder. “Someone here might suspect you’re not Enhanced.” Her voice had an unfamiliar note to it—fear.

Urban’s blood ran cold. How could anyone know? It was her family’s best-kept secret.

“Why do you think that?”

“We don’t know for sure. It could just be a coincidence but . . .” her mother glanced around again, “someone left a note in one of the bathrooms: Soups suck.”

Urban swallowed. Only Enhanced who hated Naturals ever referred to them as the unevolved Primordial Soup, or Soup for short.

“I must make sure you’re safe,” Mother continued. “Stick close to me.”

As Urban nodded, she wished for the hundredth time that she truly belonged in the Lee family—that she wasn’t just a mistake.

Many years back, when her parents had been caught in a scandal, their soshes had plummeted. They were clever manipulators, however, and willing to do anything to crawl their way back up. They’d leveraged what connections were still able to restore their soshes by helping with charity.

The plan had worked.

What most people didn’t know was her sister was that charity. And what Mother and Father hadn’t known when they’d signed up for the adoption was that they’d be getting two children—one of whom was a Natural.