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Rey

I've lost where I am again. I'm not sure how long I've been padding around, but the cafeteria is nowhere in sight. Judging by the silence, I've wandered into what could be considered as the more residential areas. Just more hallways that house countless more civilians. It's weird... I thought I was following someone. Maybe it's just the buzzing lights that made me think that. Finally, I find a cafeteria sign on a wall that points back the way I came. My stomach growls, angry at me for somehow completely missing it. I turn around and begin walking a little faste--

"Big!"

"Ah!" I jump at the sound of a child's voice, tripping over one of my feet and landing hard on my tail. The child laughs at me as I groan from the pain. "Who... Oh, it's you."

Laughing at me is the bear cub I remember from yesterday, reassuring me that he is real. Now that he's in some proper lighting, I commit his face to memory. His fur is a deep, rich brown. His nose, leathery black and a bit too big for him. His clothes, a worn pastel-yellow T-shirt and some stained purple shorts. "What's your name?" I ask.

"Toxunda," he says, sliding his tiny paws in his pockets.

"Toxunda, eh? What a nice name." And vaguely familiar. "What are you doing up here?"

"Mm playing with my friends," he hiccups.

My mind flashes with the memory of seeing his face through the hole in the wall. "You have friends on Floor 36?"

He nods and holds up two fingers, "Kuldis and Sam. My best friends!"

"Oh." I look around playfully. "Where are they?"

"They went back home." He rocks back and forth on his heels, looking at the floor.

Even if he was visiting friends, the fact that he's alone now isn't good. And this is the second time I've found him so far away from the family floors. I desperately want to get him back to his parents, but I restrict myself from just picking him up and carrying him to a border guard. That would look wrong on all accounts. "Shouldn't you be back home too?"

Toxunda frowns, like he knows he did a bad thing. "Yeah, but I got lost." His stomach growls and he hiccups again. "And then I got hungry. Do you know where the cafeteria is?"

I can't help but laugh. "Tell ya what, Tox. I'm hungry too. So how 'bout I take you to the cafeteria to get some food, and when we're done I take you back to your parents?"

When I stand up, he grabs my paw. "Yay!"

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'" I smile down at him and lead on, holding his paw in mine.

??????

Ten minutes of growling stomachs later, we reach the cafeteria. Tox wants to run, but I hold him back, eyeing the tall, male deer guard at the side of the cafeteria entrance. Usually there aren't guards positioned here; I guess the Pets are ramping up security because of the incident.

As I approach, the guard looks me up and down. "Hi. Uhh, I'm wondering if you could clear Tox here to eat," I say. Tox smiles at the guard, his stubby tail wiggling.

The guard smiles back at Tox, giving his rack a good shake. Tox stares wide-eyed, a faint 'wow' escaping his mouth. The guard looks back to me. "We're under strict orders not to let random people go wherever they want."

His expression remains stoic, but his tone is sincere. "I'm aware of that. I already have clearance to eat here, but I found Tox here wandering alone on this floor. He's really hungry. I'd like to get him fed before I take him back to his parents."

The deer sighs, "So, you're also asking for sectional clearance for wherever he's from? I can let him eat here since he's a kid, but technically I'm not supposed to let you go with him if he's lost. Escorts are part of my job."

I look at Tox, who's losing his smile by the second. I decide to push a little more, "Take it from an ex-Dancer like me, I know what the situation is like right now. I can keep him safe. Besides, I think his parents would rather know the full story from the person who found him."

The guard looks away, letting out some air.

"Please?"

He looks back at me after a moment. "Alright, alright. Tox, is it? Hold out your wrist for me, please." The deer kneels down and taps something on Tox's wristband, then taps something on his own, then finishes by swiping across Tox's screen. He stands up, "He's clear. May I see yours?" I hold out my right wrist, letting him fiddle with my wristband. "Now you're clear to go down to the family floors. It expires in two hours, so eat quick. And here..." He pulls out a notepad and a pen and scribbles something down, then rips the paper off and hands it to me, folded. "This is the exact location of the kid's parents. How he got all the way up here is beyond me, but I don't want that extra work of dealing with that. Make sure he gets home safe."

I take the folded paper and put it in my pocket. "Thank you very much," I say.

As I begin to leave, the deer grabs my arm. "Be careful on the lower floors," he whispers into my ear. I hesitate, but Tox pulls on my arm. I follow him into the cafeteria, wondering what the guard means by that. The warning doesn't linger too long. It's swept out of my mind as Tox and I chow down on the cafeteria food. It takes my mind off of everything that's been happening for a while, but when we travel down to the family floors I make sure to keep my guard up.

Unlike those on the upper floors, the walls and lights down here seem more rusted and broken down. I guess it's not so surprising that Tox managed to get inside the walls after all. The usual electrical hum that accompanies me to work is three times louder on Floor 85. As we walk through the hallways, Tox's hiccups start up again. They're more frequent, too.

"Hey, Tox?" I say as I search the walls for room number signs. _The paper said Floor 85, Southwest Section, Room 451... _

"Yes, Big?"

I chuckle, "You can call me Rey."

"Yes, Rey?" he smiles, bouncing a bit as he walks with me.

For a short second I see the child version of myself in him; the bouncing, the carelessness, my only motive being fun. I wonder if he even knows what's happening on Loana. "How did you get up to Floor 31?"

"Mmm," he hiccups, "I climbed."

_ Room 437, 439, 441,_ I think to myself. "Through the walls?"

His little ears droop a bit, picking up on my confusion and concern. "I shouldn't have done that, huh? Are you mad at me?"

I shake my head, "Not mad, concerned. It's not safe to go anywhere alone, even if you are just playing a game." We reach Room 451 and I knock on the door. Immediately I hear people scrambling towards it.

"I wasn't alone," Tox whispers, letting go of my paw. "Not completely."

The door opens to reveal two worried, older bears looking at me. The male is wearing a grimy light blue jumpsuit; the female, a purple nightgown. I hardly have time to speak before they scoop Toxunda up in their arms and smother him in kisses. He giggles and playfully pushes them away. "Oh, goodness! You're okay!" "We were so worried about you!"

I clear my throat, putting on my professional voice, "I found him wandering Floor 36 by himself."

The mother, with tears in her eyes, turns to me and grabs my paw, shaking it vigorously, "Thank you, thank you for bringing him home!"

"No problem at all. He said he was playing with his friends, but I didn't see them."

The father speaks this time, "Ah, sometimes we let him stay with some friends who live on Floor 54 for a day or two. Although he was supposed to be back a couple hours ago."

That is strange. The alarm on his wristband should have gone off then. Though his sync with the guard could have reset it. "That might have been my fault. He told me he was hungry when I found him so I took him to the cafeteria to get some food. And yeah, he told me about his friends."

"They all grew up together on Loana," his mother chimes in. "My twin brother is friends with their mothers. The three of them fought in the war together until the two women got married and had kids, along with me and Bryce here. Since they're ex-military, they get to live on the higher levels. Unfortunately for Tox, that means he doesn't get to see his friends as often as he likes."

I catch myself genuinely smiling for once. It's so nice to hear about stories like this again. Stories about people who grow up together. "With how strict the rules are here, I'm surprised he gets to see them at all."

The father, Bryce, speaks up this time. "It's hard for them to deny our temporary transfer requests when I work full-time doing the dirty stuff no one else wants to do. I'm basically a janitor."

That would explain his disgusting outfit. "The Pets like dedicated workers, that's for sure."

He nods and holds out a paw, "Thank you for bringing Tox home, Mr....?"

I grasp it firmly and shake it, "Just call me Rey."

Bryce smiles and lets go, turning to his wife. I see Tox inside sitting at a desk, writing something. They close their door as I walk away wondering if I should have told them anything more. I figure there isn't a need to cause them more worry. Mentioning my concern of Tox's wristband not going off wasn't necessary because it really could have just been reset when the guard synced with him. What's really bothering me is what Tox said; he wasn't alone, not completely. I know he said he was playing with his friends but I haven't seen them. I find the possibility of more kids in the walls unsettling, rather than finding comfort in the fact that Tox isn't alone. It didn't seem like he was too bothered by it, whatever it was. Still, I can't help but worry about him.