1999, June 1st

  Eve woke up slowly. The first thing she noticed was the warmth beneath her cheek. The surface seemed to be rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

  She opened her eyes. She was lying on William's chest, her head tucked under his chin. His shirt was wrinkled from where she'd been sleeping on it all night.

  The morning light came through the curtains. She could hear the city waking up outside, but inside the room, everything was quiet.

  She made sure not to move. It was actually comfortable, hugging and lying on William's chest like this. Her head hurt. Not by a lot, but enough to know that she'd been drunk last night. The memories came back to her in pieces. She remembered the dinner, and then drinking wine. A lot of wine. And some of the things she said. Her cheeks reddened when she remembered what she said to William. She also remembered pushing William down onto the bed, and then jumping onto his chest and falling asleep as she used his chest as a pillow. It was quite embarrassing.

  William's heartbeat beneath her ear was steady. For a second, she contemplated getting off of him. As she tried, the arm around her tightened, pushing her against him even more. With a blush, she remained where she was, focusing on the heartbeat beneath her.

  She felt safe, with his arm around her; she felt like nothing could harm her. What's wrong with me? We just fell asleep. We didn't even do anything.

  William's arm tightened slightly around her. She tilted her head upwards, carefully not to wake him up. From the angle, she could see his face. His eyes were closed, his dirty blonde hair was a mess, sticking up everywhere, and most importantly, he looked relaxed.

  He looked younger like this. Less like the genius he was, and the weird kid she'd met on the playground who'd talk about how trees won't talk to him because they were busy photosynthesizing.

  She smiled at the memory. While she didn't have any pleasant memories before that, all the memories after were simply something she could not have dreamed of at the time.

  She closed her eyes again as she relaxed, melting into his embrace. She should probably feel embarrassed. Three months of dating, and here she was, using him as a giant pillow.

  Soon enough, she felt that his breathing had become less rhythmic. He's waking up, Eve thought, but she didn't move. She opened her eyes and stared at him.

  William opened his eyes and blinked twice. His eyes focused on the ceiling for three seconds first, before slowly drifting down towards her. William smiled, "Did you enjoy sleeping on me?"

  She blushed. Why'd he have to be so direct? Fuck, making me embarrassed. She decided to hit back with the same weapon and replied, "I did. You're like a giant pillow."

  He was not embarrassed at all. Instead, he grinned even harder. She should have expected that. "I'm glad you did."

  She groaned but didn't get up. He raised an eyebrow, "So are we gonna stay like this forever?"

  She snapped back, "What if I want to, huh? What're you gonna do about it?"

  He chuckled, "Nothing, I guess. Though I should remind you, we still have a meeting today."

  She sighed, "You're right. Let's stay like this for a few more minutes."

  He shrugged, "Alright. I don't mind." With his left hand, he grabbed a book he was reading. "COGITATIONES DE FUTURO" written in bold letters. It was a Latin book, written by Imperator Caesar Romulus Rufus Claudius Vestalis Augustus, or more commonly known as Romulus Vestalis or Romulus Claudius. The emperor was an admirable figure in history, something William wouldn't know, as he didn't really attend school or even do homeschooling with Sarah. It included the late emperor's thoughts on what would happen in the future. William had been reading it for a few days, and every time, she found him laughing or grinning somewhat.

  She had read it too. The translated version, at least. The man was almost unbelievable. When she first read it, she didn't really believe that it was authentic, but after doing a little more research, many historians concur that it was written by Romulus, with his uniquely bad handwriting. She was an atheist, but after reading, she really felt like she should convert to Via Aeterna.

  She shook his head. She didn't really convert. It wasn't that she had any strong feelings against religions in general. It's just that she didn't really feel like it.

  They stayed like that for a while, with William reading, and Eve on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. After about fifteen minutes, they both got up and got ready to leave. They had a big day ahead, as after the day's inspection, they would be free to do whatever they wanted for a day.

  David Rodriguez checked his watch for the third time in five minutes. 10:47 AM. The potential buyers would be there in thirteen minutes. He adjusted his tie and looked around the lobby one more time. The floors were clean, the plants were dusted, and the reception desk was organized even though there was no receptionist to sit behind it anymore.

  This was the last chance to save Axiom.

  His phone buzzed. It was a text from Maria on the production floor. "Everything ready. Good luck, jefe."

  He didn't reply but pocketed the phone. He took a deep breath. When the bankruptcy trustee had told him that Quantum Innovation was sending representatives to tour the facility, he'd done his research. It was a tech company from Florida that did operating systems, browsers, and payment processing. The company was very successful and very young. The company was private, so there wasn't much he could find out, but his connections had told him that the company was potentially worth billions, despite it being only seven months old.

  And now, they were dipping their fingers into hardware with this. He shook his head. It wasn't his business yet. It would be his, after they decided to acquire Axiom, but it hadn't happened yet.

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  A taxi pulled up outside at 10:58 AM. Two people got out of the vehicle. He blinked. He knew the company was young, but he didn't expect the people running it to be this young.

  The woman was young, early twenties at most. With white hair cut in an asymmetric bob, sharp grey eyes, and wearing a black business suit, she looked stylishly professional. She moved with confidence, scanning the building with the kind of assessment that made him nervous.

  The man, on the other hand, was even younger. He looked eighteen, maybe nineteen. He had dirty blonde hair that looked like he'd barely bothered to comb it, with unique heterochromia eyes, one blue and one brown, with a long black coat over a vest and shirt, hands in his pockets, that contrasted heavily with the woman's professional style. His expression was completely neutral as he looked at the building.

  They looked like they should be in college, instead of being here, evaluating a $75 million acquisition.

  David walked outside to meet them, extending his hand. "Ms. Maxi? Mr. Winters?"

  The woman shook his hand first. Her grip was firm and professional. "Thank you for meeting us, Mr. Rodriguez."

  "Of course. Welcome to Axiom Monterrey." He turned to the young man. "Mr. Winters."

  The kid, because what else could David call him, shook his hand briefly. His grip was surprisingly strong.

  "Shall we start with the production floor?" David asked.

  The woman nodded, "Lead the way."

  David led them through the lobby, acutely aware of how empty it was. How dead it looked. He'd tried to make it presentable, but there was only so much you could do with a dying company.

  As they walked down the hallway, the young man said nothing. He just looked at everything.

  David found the silence unnerving. They reached the production floor, and he pushed open the double doors.

  "This is our main production floor."

  The space stretched out before them. Most of the equipment was silent. Only about twenty workers moved between stations.

  David cleared his throat. "As you can see, we've maintained the core production capability. The equipment is all functional, though we've had to reduce staffing due to budget constraints."

  "How many employees did you have at peak?" Ms. Maxi asked. Her Spanish had a slight accent but was otherwise perfect.

  "Eight hundred on this floor alone. Across all shifts."

  "And now?"

  "Forty-two. One shift, five days a week."

  Mr. Winters walked away without a word. He went straight to the nearest assembly station and ran his hand along the conveyor belt. Then he crouched down, examining the machinery underneath.

  David watched, confused. What was he looking for?

  The kid stood up and moved to the next station. Then the next. He moved methodically, checking each one with the same focus.

  Rodriguez had been in manufacturing for twenty-three years. He'd seen plenty of executives tour facilities. They usually nodded politely, asked generic questions, and left within an hour. He had never seen an executive actually looking at things.

  Meanwhile, Ms. Maxi had walked over to Maria at one of the assembly stations. David couldn't hear what they were saying, but Maria was answering questions in Spanish. She looked surprised that someone was actually asking her opinion.

  Mr. Winters was now examining a large industrial press. He looked back at David. "When was this last serviced?"

  His voice was sharper than David expected.

  He pulled out his tablet. "Three months ago. We have all the maintenance records if you'd like to see them."

  "I would."

  "Of course. I can send them to your email-"

  "Now. I want to see them now."

  David blinked. The kid was quite rude. He shrugged and said, "I... yes, of course. Let me get the files from the office."

  He hurried off, feeling oddly like he was being tested.

  When he came back with the tablet, Mr. Winters took it without a word and started scrolling through the maintenance logs. His eyes moved fast. Really fast. David wondered if he was actually reading or just pretending.

  After about a minute, which was barely enough time to skim the first few entries, the kid handed the tablet back.

  "The records match. It's good that you've kept up with maintenance despite the financial issues."

  What the hell? He read all of it in one minute?

  David managed to keep a straight face, "We try our best. This facility has been here for fifteen years. We don't want to see it die."

  Mr. Winters nodded once. "Show us the quality control section."

  David led them to the QC area at the far end of the floor. Miguel was the only one working there, running tests on circuit boards.

  "This is our QC department. We test every batch before it ships. Defect rate has remained consistently below two percent."

  Mr. Winters walked into the QC area without asking permission. Miguel looked up, startled.

  "Don't mind me. Keep working."

  Miguel hesitated, then went back to his testing. The kid watched over his shoulder for a moment as Miguel's hands were shaking slightly, then picked up a clipboard with test results.

  David glanced at Ms. Maxi. She was watching the interaction with an amused expression.

  "You said the defect rate is below two percent," she said. "What was it at peak operation?"

  "One point eight percent."

  "And now?"

  "One point nine percent."

  Her eyebrows rose. "Despite having a fraction of the staff and running on a minimal budget, your defect rate only went up by point one percent?"

  David nodded. "The workers we kept are the best. They know the systems inside and out."

  Mr. Winters set down the clipboard and walked back. "Your QC process is solid. Better than I expected."

  Coming from this kid, that actually felt like high praise.

  "Show us the server room."

  They took the elevator to the second floor. David swiped his keycard and opened the door to the server room.

  Cold air hit them. Mr. Winters walked into the room and disappeared between the server racks.

  After about five minutes, the kid emerged.

  "Your cable management is terrible."

  David winced. "I know. We've been meaning to-"

  "But your redundancy setup is good. Dual power supplies, backup cooling, and proper fire suppression. This room is actually one of the better parts of the facility."

  "Would you like to see the office spaces next? Or the warehouse?"

  Mr. Winters checked his watch. "Warehouse. Then offices."

  The warehouse tour was quick. Mr. Winters walked through the aisles, checking dates on materials, occasionally picking something up to examine it.

  "Some of this is old. Six months, eight months."

  "Yes. We've been trying to use existing inventory before ordering new stock."

  "No point in having material you can't use."

  The offices were mostly empty. Rodriguez led them to his office, acutely aware of how cluttered it was.

  "I apologize for the mess. Most of the administrative staff are gone. I've been handling everything myself."

  Ms. Maxi looked at the stacks of papers. "You're keeping all the records?"

  "Of course. I know the company is failing, but I'm not going to let it die disorganized. Whoever buys this place deserves clean records."

  Mr. Winters nodded like David had just said something important.

  "Can we see the employee files?"

  David hesitated. "I can show you anonymized summaries. I can't share personal information without consent."

  "That's fine. Just want to see skill levels, tenure."

  David pulled out a binder and handed it over.

  Mr. Winters flipped through it quickly, again with that impossibly fast reading, and closed it.

  "Your remaining staff are experienced. Average tenure is nine years."

  "They're loyal. They stayed even when I couldn't promise them anything."

  Ms. Maxi was looking at the financial reports on his desk. "These numbers are bad."

  "I know."

  Mr. Winters and Ms. Maxi exchanged a look. David couldn't read it, but something passed between them. A whole conversation in a glance.

  Mr. Winters turned back to him. "Is there anything else we should see?"

  "There's the break room, loading docks, storage areas-"

  "Anything critical we haven't seen?"

  David thought. "No. You've seen the important parts."

  "Good. Thank you for your time, Mr. Rodriguez. We'll be in touch."

  They shook hands and left.

  David stood in his office, watching them walk away through the window. He felt that they were qualified. The tour had barely taken two hours, and yet, they had gained every critical piece of information.