Page 152 of Sparktopia
“Yeah. She showed me where she lives.”
“Where? What does it look like? It is a room?”
“Well, it is a room. But not one with a door like this. I’m not sure I could find it again because first we had to go through something called an access panel. She could walk, but I had to crawl. Then, after I had a good crook in my back, we ended up in some kind of… water room?”
“Water room?”
“I don’t know what to call it. Anneeta called it the cooling cell. It was just like… a lake of water, only inside. There was a little walkway around it with a mostly functioning railing, and we followed that to the opposite side of the lake and on the other side of that wall was her place.”
“What did it look like?”
“Small, cozy, cool. The water made like a mist in the air. So even though it was hot as hell outside, it was pleasant.”
“Where does she sleep?”
“Oh, she’s got a bed. It’s actually a really nice room.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It was all decorated. I mean, I’d sleep there if I was here. There were even rugs. Nice furry ones.”
“Really?”
“Really. And a fireplace.”
“Shut up.”
“I swear. It was something right out of an up-city house, in my opinion. There was no window—not a real one—but she had something that looked like a window, but it was really a painting. She got new curtains too.”
“Speaking of… I wasn’t aware they had matching décor sets in the tower lost and found. What’s up with this stuff? It looks new.”
“Oh, it is new. I found it in Anneeta’s personal shop.”
I squint at Clara. “Her what?”
“Yeah. Down in the lost and found, there’s a whole room down there filled with things specifically for Anneeta. Everything has her name on it. She said I could buy this set because she’s so over yellow.”
“Huh. Well, it’s nice to know that the charities are taking care of her. Sometimes I worry, ya know?”
“Oh, it’s not charity. It’s the city. She’s even got her own personal shopper.”
I squint “Like a runner?”
“Yeah.”
“Where does she get the coin for this?”
Clara shrugs. “I don’t actually think they charge her for anything. She just takes what she wants.”
“That must be how she gets those clothes.”
“They’re cute, right? She’s got a very well-developed sense of fashion.”
“But why? That’s what doesn’t add up here. Why does the city pay for this? And why didn’t I know about it?”
“I dunno. Maybe you never asked.”
It’s true what she says, I never had asked anyone about Anneeta. But it’s weird to me that everything is free for her. I mean, it’s good. It’s nice. It’s generous.
