"You look good," Cole said. He took a step back into the living room. "Entre vous." 

     Trevor and Niki, Trevor visible, Niki invisible, stepped inside the house.

​     Niki saw no furniture in this room, only soldiers.

     The dozen or so soldiers in the living room all wore the same kind of uniform, something that looked like armor but was, in fact, fabric. 

     "Want to go to the boys club?" Trevor asked his brother. "Shoot a little hoop?"

​     They both chuckled.

     "Who's the metal guy?" Trevor asked. "The guy on all the screens. Who is he?"

     "He is Technolica," Cole replied. "He is the reason that, for the moment, you are still alive." 

     "The catch?"

     "You're my brother, Trevor. I want you with me."

​     "I know. I like a good line of bullshit, too."

​     "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

​     "You want me to do something. What is it you want me to do?"

     "Wear a uniform?" 

     "Sounds like a lot to ask."

​     "Two minutes, and we're already arguing like kids," Cole said

     "You were never a kid." 

     "You were always a kid. You're still a kid." 

​     "A kid who can kick ass."

     "There's only so much ass ​anyone can kick." Cole indicated the other soldiers in the room with a wave of his hand. "And there are soldiers in every room of the house." 

     "You mentioned a sandwich and some beer before. That offer still stand?"

     "If we wanted to, we could strip you and force a uniform on you." 

     "But you'd rather talk me into putting it on myself. So talk." 

     "We won, Trevor."

     "Who's we? You mean you and Technolica?"

     "Over the last year, we won." 

     "I don't understand a word of what you're trying to say. Explain every little bit of it to me. Take hours, if you want." 

​     "Follow me."

     Trevor followed Cole into what was meant to be a bedroom but was now just another room filled with soldiers.

     At the center of the room was a chair, and in that chair rested a uniform.

     "It's your size," Cole said.

     "Let's talk." 

​     "After you put on the uniform."

     "Answer me one question. Who's this Technolica guy? He with Mother Naturia?"

     "Hah! Mother Naturia is his to dominate. He fucks her every day, and he shows it on every screen."

     "Every screen in Seatrailia?"

​     "Every screen in the world."

     "He's the shy and sensitive type, in other words."

     "Technolica is power."

     "He's certainly got you kissing his ass."

     "You don't want to provoke me, Trevor."

     "Aw, come on, why not? There's nothing going on here, right? Remember when we were kids, how seriously we used to wrestle around?"

​     "That's because I hated you. I wanted to kill you."

     "I've never been able to figure that out. What in the fuck did I..."

     "What difference does any of that make? I'd look at you, and I'd see how content and stupid you were most of the time, and I'd just want to smash your teeth out, and sometimes I could hide how much I hated you and sometimes I couldn't. Now put on the fucking uniform."

​     "Ready?" Trevor asked.

     "Ready for what?" Cole replied. 

​     "I wasn't talking to you," Trevor replied back. 

                                                    CONTINUE