Sitting in the black hover car, Leon and Tara were on their way to the party when he looked over at her, slightly embarrassed.

  “Sorry for that before. I guess I got a little bit ahead of myself.”

  Hearing his words, Tara thought back to when that Android blew up and suddenly began laughing.

  “It’s fine. Not like it has to do much with me.” She looked at him funnily. “Probably should have seen something like that coming, though. Unfortunately, I’ve never dated a nerd before to know that.”

  Dating?

  The sudden use of that specific word rattled Leon’s mind. Did she imply there would be sequels to today's date? This was not just a one-time thing?

  Although it was more likely that she just used it loosely in her words. It probably would be better not to think too much of it.

  “So, that party we’re going to is regarding an expansion of your family’s owned company, Symbotics, is planning?” Leon asked, trying to change the subject.

  “That’s right. My parents want to change the focus from small appliance robots to surgical robots. It’s a transition into the medical industry.”

  “... Wow, I guess everyone is feeling the heat now,” Leon exclaimed, making Tara tilt her head.

  “Why do you say that?” She asked.

  “Because of those GenoTech Androids,” He replied. “That model I just brain-fried was already extremely advanced, but the new model that is said to be released in two months, the one that was at that afterparty at Jade Kotova’s mansion, is miles ahead. Whenever I enter the lab at Alpha Dynamics now, employees are running left and right. The uncertainty is vivid in the air.”

  “It seems you’re rather knowledgeable about the situation.” Tara pointed out.

  “I’m aware,” Leon admitted. In fact, he knew exactly how much damage GenoTech’s new Android release could cause to Alpha Dynamics. It might even cost his sponsor its place in the industry as a mega-corporation.

  Hearing his words, Tara pursed her lips as she looked out of the window.

  “In that case, you won’t have any problems talking to my family as my date then.”

  Her last sentence left Leon a little tense, but he quickly calmed down after thinking it over. After all, he was her date for the night and had to act the part properly.

  After some time passed, the black hover car arrived at their destination. It was a six-star hotel where the party venue was located in the event hall on the bottom floor.

  Many luxurious cars gathered around the circular guest drop-off with numerous people in formal business attire chatting, laughing, and entering the hotel. When it was their turn to exit, Leon quickly got out of the car before running around to open the door for Tara, who smiled teasingly at the gesture.

  She knew pretty much everything around them was new and foreign to Leon, and yet he did his utmost to adapt, even if a little clumsily. That action alone warmed her heart, making her face heat up a bit.

  When she first invited Leon to be her date for this party, she did so because he was interesting enough not to bore her to death during the evening. At this moment, however, she couldn’t help but appreciate the guy offering her his arm.

  He was surprisingly decent boyfriend material.

  Meanwhile, Leon felt vastly out of place.

  He never really cared about what others thought of him, especially those of higher society. That is one of the reasons he got close to Trey, after all. However, now that he was joining Tara on this party as her partner, he didn’t want to put her in a bad light because of him.

  Regrettably, this place full of genetically and surgically adjusted appearances made him oddly self-conscious about his looks.

  Truth be told, he wasn’t bad looking. Standing at a height of 180 centimeters with short, thick dark hair and stormy grey eyes, Leon looked far from unsightly. Most people would objectively agree that he was handsome to a considerable degree.

  However, looking at Tara, who was an absolute headturner at every function, made Leon’s looks less notable. Given the fact that the majority of people had similar appearances to her, it only increased that fact even more.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  There was simply no chance to compete with the gene-editing of the super-rich.

  Shaking his head, Leon ignored the intrusive thoughts invading his head and focused on what was actually important, focusing on the event.

  Making up his mind, Leon put on his well-practiced poker face as they entered the hotel, immediately being greeted by several people. With Symbotics being the host, Tara’s presence was naturally important, putting Leon equally into the spotlight.

  As a result, they spent the next several minutes smiling, nodding, and greeting a bunch of people he couldn’t even remember the faces of a short while later.

  It was the typical small talk of the rich, the required networking expected of people in the higher caste. At least, that’s what Trey told him in his pre-brief a few hours before.

  Meanwhile, the party was already in full swing.

  Different people gathered together in small groups, talking about business or their personal life as attendants walked around to hand out snacks and drinks.

  Tara led him forward, moving over to a slightly larger group that enjoyed a great amount of attention.

  “Hey, Leon, meet my parents.” Tara began, catching the attention of a well-dressed middle-aged couple. The man, whom Leon presumed to be her father, possessed the same auburn-colored hair as Tara, wearing a pleasant smile, while the woman, Tara’s mother, had a darker hair color but the same hazel eyes.

  She was grinning practically from ear to ear, visibly excited at seeing him standing dumbly next to her daughter.

  “Leon, nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  Tara rolled her eyes. “How come? I haven’t told either one of you about him.”

  To that, her mother put on a fake smile in return.

  “You’re right. I had to do my own research for this because you wouldn’t tell me. That’s when I heard how his name makes the rounds in the industry.”

  “Only good things, I hope.” Leon intervened, to which Tara’s mother nodded.

  “Indeed, a prodigal child that Alpha Dynamics sponsored out of the blue. Too unfortunate that your future seems to be limited there. Why don’t you come to our company?”

  “Mom, it’s illegal to poach students, you know that?”

  “It’s illegal to employ students under official positions not making offers, Tara.” Her mother shot back, giving her the same skeptical look she got from her daughter.

  Seeing this, Leon felt like seeing the same person with the only difference being the shade of their hair color and age. Meanwhile, Tara’s father just stood idly by, watching along as if these verbal fights happened every day.

  “Anyway, I just brought him here to say hello. We've got somewhere else to be.” Tara said, deciding to get out of the staring contest with her mother. The woman in question simply waved, laughing politely.

  “Alright, have fun, you two. Let’s talk more later, Leon.” Tara’s mother yelled after them, to which Leon chuckled.

  Moving away from her parents, they made a large circle around the venue where Tara’s eyes swerved left and right in search of someone. Every once in a while, some people would come up to talk, but Tara was always able to end these talks in a few sentences.

  When Leon finally decided to ask who she was looking for, Tara’s eyes brightened as the figure of an asian girl with long black hair walked out of a sea of people.

  “Nicole, we were looking all over for you,” Tara said as they moved closer to her. At the same time, a smaller group of people trailed behind Nicolr with one man standing more visibly next to her.

  “I know, it’s kind of chaotic in here.” Nicole nodded, looking up to the handsome young man next to her. “By the way, this is David, my date for the night. You probably haven’t met before. He’s in environmental sciences. His family runs one of the largest non-profits among other projects.”

  The young man smiled in return, greeting both Leon and Tara with a handshake.

  Meanwhile, Leon wanted to inwardly die inside at this situation. He was praying for his friend Trey, he really was. However, this didn’t exactly show that luck was in his favor.

  Whatever happened, Leon would make sure that Trey wouldn’t find out that Nicole preferred another guy as her partner for tonight while he was at their apartment watching movies.

  For the next two hours, they kept talking among each other, occasionally having new people join the group, with some leaving. At the same time, attendants made their rounds offering snacks several times, which Leon ate all without question.

  After a while, however, as time seemed to drag on, Leon noticed that his social stamina was rapidly running out while Tara looked just as fresh and awake as when they first walked into this party.

  Leaning a little closer to her, he used the excuse of a bathroom break to slip away from the group, making his way over to the east corridor out of the reception room towards the restroom.

  When he left the men’s restroom a few minutes later, however, Leon was hesitant to return right away. He was seriously spent and needed a breather. Luckily, there was a bench outside the restrooms where he chose to sit down, leaning his head against the wall in exhaustion.

  He told himself that it would only be for a short while, but time seemed to drag on as he waited quietly in silence.

  That was until a familiar young woman stormed out of the other restroom, kicking a nearby over a nearby trash bin in anger.

  ……….

  ‘Humans always judge by appearance first, no matter how much they try to deny it.’

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~