The sound of clinking glasses and cheerful toasts pulled me from the silence of death.
I opened my eyes. I was floating near the ceiling.
Below, my body still lay slumped by the tablet, the bracelet pulsing its lonely red light.
The front door opened.
"Tonight's gala was perfect," Caspian's voice drifted in, full of satisfaction. "The board was very impressed with our company's stock price."
He loosened his tie and strode gracefully into the living room.
His expensive custom-made suit shimmered in the moonlight.
Now a spirit, I instinctively drifted toward them.
I wanted to get his slippers for him, just as I always had.
It was a conditioned reflex carved into my very soul.
"Caspian!"
I opened my arms, wanting to embrace the man who had brought the night's chill in with him.
"My emotions are stable now," I pleaded. "I'll be good. Please don't be angry with me anymore."
But my hands passed right through him. Like smoke.
He shivered, rubbing his arms.
"Strange. Is the thermostat acting up? Why is it suddenly so cold?"
I froze, staring at my transparent hands. I couldn't feel my heartbeat anymore.
Right. I was dead. A ghost can't hold the living.
Julian followed him in, looking exhausted.
"It's probably just the air conditioning." He paused. "We should check on Haven."
My heart leaped.
No, I don't have a heart anymore.
But something like hope burned where my heart used to be.
Julian was going to check on me. Caspian would find me.
I looked at my husband, a wave of sorrow washing over me.
Would he cry? Would he fall to his knees, realizing his mistake?
"Check on what?" Caspian scoffed, walking toward my studio. "Let her reflect."
He pushed open the door.
The room was pitch black, lit only by the flashing red of the bracelet.
My body was motionless in front of the tablet.
"Look at her," Caspian's voice was laced with sarcasm. "In her twenties and still playing this childish game of faking death for sympathy. Does she think pretending to be asleep will change the bracelet's color? This is what happens when I'm too soft on her."
No. It's not like that.
I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Miley's holographic projection lit up in front of Caspian, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Caspian, darling, how are things over there? Is she still throwing a tantrum?"
"Just as I expected," Caspian said to the projection, his eyes coldly fixed on my corpse. "She's asleep, but the bracelet is still red. She's polluting our synergy data even in her sleep."
"I knew it," Miley's voice held a trace of gloating. "Someone as emotional as her needs to be isolated. Her meltdowns could affect the stability of the entire system."
He walked toward me, casting a shadow over my body.
"The flashing red light means she's still in a highly emotional state. She hasn't reflected at all."
I screamed in his face, waving my hands. "I'm dead! Can't you see? I'm dead! Get closer! Touch me!"
But he saw nothing, heard nothing.
He didn't see me. He only trusted that damned bracelet.
"Leave her," Caspian said, turning to leave. "Let her stay in there until she learns to control herself."
"But she hasn't had any water all night..." Julian said, hesitating.
"Julian," my husband's tone sharpened. "Are you trying to ruin her calibration? Absolute discipline is the only thing that works. Your weakness will only make her data worse."
Julian fell silent.
The door closed again.
The electronic lock clicked into place.
I floated beside my corpse, watching the single scarlet dot in the darkness. A despair colder and deeper than death itself washed over me.
Caspian, if you had just taken one more step, if you had touched my hand, you would have known I was as cold as stone.
But you chose to trust a machine over your own wife. You wouldn't take a single step closer to see if I was even breathing.
I could hear them talking in the living room.
"Oh, right, the biotech summit tomorrow morning..."
"Miley, you were brilliant tonight. Several board members were very impressed with you..."
"Our company's reputation has never been stronger..."
They were celebrating.
While my body was growing cold in death, they were toasting their company's glory.
I floated back to my room and gazed at my own body.
