It would be a rather cold holiday season. Not that Thomas minded. His favorite parts of this time of year were getting under a warm blanket with a nice cup of hot chocolate. The taxi came to a halt in front of a large suburban home. Outside a portly middle-aged man was on a ladder putting up the seasonal decorations. 

Thomas smiled and exited the car. 

He grabbed his suitcase from the seat next to him and slipped the driver some extra cash for his trouble. “Thank you again.” Thomas said cheerfully.

“And thank you for your service.” The man replied. He waved farewell and began to drive away as Thomas made his way up the snowy sidewalk. In Norwich during the winter months, it was not uncommon to shovel snow every few hours. 

The air felt cool on his rosy cheeks as he approached the all too familiar home. It was precisely as he remembered. “Dad?” He called out. 

“Tommy!” Robert exclaimed with a smile from ear to ear. Carefully he descended the ladder from the second floor and took several strides towards his son. The two embraced in a tight hug. “Oh, look how that uniform fits on you! Come inside you must be freezing…” Robert insisted and ushered Thomas inside.

Within the house it was pleasantly warm and the faint aroma of something delicious in the oven reminded Thomas of his days from before he moved out. He removed his hat and dusted off his boots to avoid staining his mother’s hand-stitched rug. Robert called out in the house announcing his return. 

At once there was thrilled barking from down the hall. Thomas’s smile widened even further as the walking carpet of a dog that belonged to the family came prancing towards him. Bosco was an old labradoodle with a graying snout, but he still acted like a big puppy. And of course, he was still wearing the ridiculous bright pink bow his sister had woven together back in middle school. 

“Oh, there’s my son!” Elizabeth gushed as she exited the kitchen. She laughed as she wrapped her arms around Thomas’s broad shoulders. 

He held her tight. It had been far too long since he had seen his family in person. “I’ve missed you mom.” Thomas replied. 

“I know, and we are so proud of you.” She responded. Elizabeth ran her fingers over the unit patch on Thomas’s arm. It matched the rest of his camouflage ensemble. 

The first thing Thomas wanted to do was get out of uniform, throw on something more comfortable and share a beer with his father. But that could wait until after he had the chance to greet his sister. 

According to Robert, Alice was still on her way home from campus. During his time in the Air Force, it was hard to find time to chat with his family, and once she entered her upper-level courses her own schedule became hectic. Until then he was content with catching up with his dad. 

Around half an hour later dinner was almost ready. From outside they heard a car stop in front of the mailbox. “That must be her.” Thomas said, and set his drink down to follow Elizabeth outside. 

Alice stepped out of her car. She heard the door opening to the front door of her parents’ house just as she was pulling her suitcase free. Her mother called her name, she smiled widely and pulled Alice into a hug. Over Elizabeth’s shoulder, she could see her brother walking down the steps accompanied by Bosco.

“We were starting to get worried.” Thomas mused heartily. She embraced him as well, whilst Bosco jumped eagerly for her attention on her leg. “How have you been sis?” He asked.

She ignored the flare of pain in her cheekbone from when her mother kissed her. “Really good!” Alice lied and followed them indoors out of the cold evening. “It was a tough semester but nothing I couldn’t handle.” She said. 

“Well, you always were the smart one.” Elizabeth guffawed as she returned to the kitchen to check on the oven. By now the chicken was baked and ready to serve. 

Alice set her luggage down next to the front door and kicked off her shoes. Briefly she checked her reflection in the window to make sure her make-up had not smudged. Her bruises had mostly healed but left very noticeable black and blue blotches on her face that took a lot of cover-up to conceal. 

Her father noticed her dawdling. “Are you going to join us to say grace?” Robert asked. 

“Oh!” She exclaimed and briskly joined the rest of her family at the dinner table. “My bad, I thought I left the car on.” 

“Who wants to start?” Elizabeth asked. 

After a bit of back and forth it was determined that Robert would say prayers before the family ate. Alice peeked to her right side to discern whether or not Tommy had noticed anything. She had hoped he would be too drunk by now to notice anything amiss about her appearance, but unfortunately, he had restrained himself. 

As the family sat down and began to eat, Alice did her best to contribute to conversation without bringing too much attention to herself. Just as she had anticipated, the spotlight was on Tommy and how his first two years in the military had gone. 

Bosco took his usual spot. Next to Alice at the edge of the table begging for scraps. Nobody else ever gave him food right from the table, but she had a soft spot for him, and he had come to expect it by now. Dinner progressed and he happily slurped up bits of chicken and potato she sent his way. 

The dog was more excitable than usual. Perhaps it was because for the first time in years, the entire family was back together at the dinner table. Each time Bosco hopped up onto a chair Robert was quick to send him away, but gradually he became too engrossed in a story Tommy was telling to do so. 

Alice wasn’t really paying attention and only offered a half-hearted ‘shoo’ to Bosco when he jumped up on her. He was just big enough to reach her face when he stood on his two hind legs and began to lick the side of her face like he was still a young dog. 

She only noticed her grave mistake when Tommy began to trail off in the middle of his tale. The table slowly went silent as her parents wondered what the issue was, and all attention turned to where Tommy was looking. 

Right at the now perfectly visible bruise on her left cheek. 

“...Alice?” Tommy said slowly. “What happened?”

She gulped and wiped some gravy off her lips, conspicuously turning her face away and averting her eyes. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Tommy what’s wrong?” Elizabeth asked, confused. She turned to her daughter. 

“She has a bruise.”

“Tom, I don’t-.”

“Look right there, beneath her left eye.” Tommy said. Now he was sure of it. It had been difficult to notice before, but Bosco had wiped most of her blush away with his tongue and exposed the injury. 

Beneath the table Alice clenched her fists and tried to keep calm. Tommy stood up from across the table and walked purposefully towards her. As he approached her turned the other way, hiding the bruise from him. 

“Let me see it.” He said firmly. 

“I said it was nothing.” 

“Alice.” 

“You’re just seeing things.”

“No.” Robert murmured. He squinted through his glasses. “I see it too. Alice honey, what happened?” He asked in concern.

She grit her teeth. Damn. 

With the entire table looking directly at her, Alice took a deep breath and met their gaze. She brushed her hair back behind her ears, making it even more obvious that she was hurt. Both her parents simply looked concerned. But Tommy was different. There was anger in those sea green eyes of his. When he spoke it had an edge, like a knife. “Who did this?” Tommy asked.

“Nobody. I got into an accident at practice.” She replied. 

“You got a bruise like that playing tennis?” 

Alice shrugged. “A ball hit me. Nurse said it was fine but would leave a nasty mark.”

“So why did you try to hide it with make-up? Say it was nothing?” Tommy interrogated. Alice didn’t reply. She looked up at her parents for some kind of assistance, but they offered none. Evidently, they were on his side on this.

A long silence ensued. Alice simply twirled her fork in her mashed potatoes, reminiscent of when she was a little girl receiving a scolding at the dinner table. Although this time it was her brother rather than her father or mother administering it. 

Finally, Tommy broke the stillness. “It was Mark. Wasn’t it?” He seethed.

“W-what?” Alice asked and spun around to face him, genuinely bewildered. “Mark? Tommy, I haven’t spoken to him in years-.”

Her brother was no longer listening. Instead, he rose from the table and grabbed Robert’s jacket and car keys from the doorway. Bosco instinctively stood and followed him, wondering if it was time for his walk. 

Alice remained pinned to her seat, dumbfounded. Of all people, how could he think that Mark did this? Did he even live in Norwich anymore? She heard the front door slam shut. 

Elizabeth blinked, as if the sound reminded her, she could speak. “Honey, is that boy hurting you again?” She asked worriedly. 

By now Alice was no longer listening. She got up and chased after Thomas, ignoring her parent’s pleas as she left the house without her coat. It was bitter cold in the night, but she didn’t care. Tommy was opening the door to Robert’s car. As the engine started up, she knocked on the car window. 

“Tommy, stop. This is insane, you can’t just-.” She blathered but was ignored. The engine failed to start. A symptom of the colder weather. Still, he ignored her and tried again. She grew exasperated. “Tom get out of the car and fucking listen to me!” Alice barked, angrily thumping the roof of the car with her hand. 

He gave her a cold look. The window cracked open. “I told that piece of shit I would kill him if he ever came near you again.” Thomas reminded her.

“Mark didn’t do this! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” 

“Tsk.” He bemoaned, rolling his head in frustration. “Unbelievable, after all this time you still defend him-.”

“I am not defending him!” She shouted, angrily slamming her fist into the car door. “Mark did not fucking do this you dumbass!” “Alice said, livid.

He met her gaze and wound the window down all the way. “Then who did?” Thomas asked simply.

Alice opened her mouth to shout again but no words came out. After a few tense moments she bit her lip and looked away, down the street as far away from Tommy as she could. He waited almost a minute before shutting the car off. 

“I thought so.” He muttered bitterly before stepping back inside.

Winter was always a busy time in the Northside district. The increase in snow was a constant hazard that forced the community to spend days clearing even small clumps, and the threat of unwitting brobs from out of town brazenly trampling all over the place was a frequent annoyance. 

It would be too difficult for specks to manually clear snow from the district. By law, the city was supposed to provide that service although even the oldest specks from when the legislation was passed could not name a year it had been honored. As with most things, the specks had to do it themselves to survive. 

Many modern cities utilized special snow ploughs for mass clearing, although great strides had been made in snow melting devices that generated enough heat to keep an area clear. One such device commonly used by specks was essentially a modified water heater. 

Snow enters the devices via large collecting bins situated around the community. Heat created by the machine turns the snow into hot water, and the rest into steam to prevent overflow. That steam is then channeled through pipes all along the community to other smaller heaters which melt just enough snow to allow the specks to clean up any remnants.

Eren worked with the machines on a daily basis during the snowy months. His role as an electrician was to ensure the precious power generators needed to provide heat, hot water, and internet to the community were maintained throughout snowstorms and the freezing cold.

He took a deep breath and stepped back from the blueprints on his desk. Everybody was exhausted, not just him, and it was the first day of December. So much work had to be done just to keep Northside operational another day, sometimes another hour. All of that just to have the brob government step in and tell them all to relocate. 

It’s like some kind of grand joke we’re all too small to see. He thought begrudgingly. Nightmares plagued him again last night. It showed from the dark bags under his eyes. Fuck… I’m tired. Tomorrow I’m taking a day off.

The grub shack was rather sparse. Rations as usual were cut down to quarter for the winter. He shouldn’t waste a meal ticket twice in the same day, but there was no way he could finish the rest of the inspection without another hot meal. 

Evidently the chef thought it was peculiar to see him twice as well that day. “I thought you already got yours?” 

He shrugged and yawned. “I did. But I can’t take another step on a half-empty stomach.” Eren replied. 

The older speck snorted and picked up a plate. “What? Got used to the high-life with that brob?” He asked. 

Eren paused. “That’s none of your business.” He replied as the man started filling his plate with assorted dried fruit and jerky. 

“Honestly I’m surprised you bothered coming back. She gave you a big ole’ wet kiss and a nice phone of all things…” He muttered. 

Eren extended his meal ticket. “Northside’s my home as well, Isaac.”

“Yeah yeah.” He waved Eren off and returned to his work. “But when they sell this place off and the rest of us are freezing to death in the alleyways, you’ll be looking down on us from a nice warm apartment between that bitch’s legs-.” Before Isaac could continue Eren snatched the tray away from him, almost pulling the older man off his feet from behind the counter.

He slammed the meal ticket down and walked away briskly, ignoring the looks from the others in the grub hall. Although it was cold outside, he no longer felt like eating with the others. Instead, he picked a spot near the edge of Northside, overlooking the barrier that separated the speck community from Norwich. 

What was his problem? Eren thought to himself. I’ve known Isaac for years… used to slip me an extra serving when I was sick. Now that people know I’ve made friends with a brob I’m suddenly an asshole? He took a bite of his food. It was bone dry and tasted like ratshit. Already he missed the warm home-cooked delicacies that came from Tae’s kitchen, or even the delights of the normal-sized world. But it was all they had. 

Eren reached for the phone Tae had given him. It was nothing like the simple outdated models common among specks. This one was sleek, with a smooth black screen and a camera. 

He only had one contact. A smile touched his lips just thinking about her. Maybe she would be free tomorrow too?

Not a moment after Eren sent the text, there was a bit of commotion from behind him. The mechanical whirring of a nearby power core came to a grinding halt. Instantly a few specks close by jogged over to diagnose the problem.

Tae hadn’t texted back yet. Usually, she replied within a few minutes. Eren got up and went over to assess the power core as well. 

“Did one of the fuses freeze over?” He asked a man about his age who had gotten there first. Both of them could smell the bitter electric burn. 

“Not sure.” Oscar replied, another maintenance specialist and Isaac's son. He glanced over at Eren, and his face soured somewhat. “You failed to calibrate it for the weather properly.” He suggested.

“Grub shack needs this grid online. All the ovens shut off.” Someone behind them groaned.

“We’ll send for a repair team.” 

“No, I can fix it.” Eren replied and slipped his jacket off. Oscar folded his arms and watched silently as Eren got on his hands and knees to crawl beneath the steaming vent of the generator.

It was definitely an electrical issue. Nothing a quick hard reset couldn’t rectify. While he had the chance Eren took the opportunity to properly calibrate the machine for the cold, fiddling with the power consumption settings. Fortunately, nothing was frozen, but moisture had developed on the exterior latch.

By the time he was finished about ten minutes had passed. Eren slid out from beneath the generator and blinked in sunlight. 

Where did everybody go? He thought to himself. The small crowd of other specks had vanished. He stood up and slipped his jacket back on. At once he noticed his phone was gone. Eren’s expression hardened. Really?

It wasn’t too hard to track them down. A trail of footprints led away, closer to the recuperating grub shack. As expected, Oscar and the other guys from before were there, crowded around his phone like it was a work of art.

He dug his fingers into his palms. “That’s not yours.” Eren announced his presence and walked right up to Oscar. “Give it back.” He demanded.

“We just wanted to see it.” Oscar dismissed. “Relax dude, I’m not reading whatever kinky shit is going on with you and that brob.” 

This again? Eren thought. “What’s your problem?” 

“I don’t have a problem. What could make you think that?” Oscar replied sardonically. 

“Ever since I got back you and everybody else is treating me like an outcast. That woman saved my life Oscar.” 

“Yeah. You’re real lucky. For some reason you get special treatment, and when this place is destroyed, you get a home while the rest of us are turned out into the cold.” Oscar said bitterly. 

“I can’t control that.”

Oscar snorted. “Ever think she could help the rest of us? Or were you too busy trying to get in her pants to spare a thought for the rest of us?” He shot back accusingly. 

Eren folded his arms. “A brob nearly killed me. Would have flushed me down a toilet. Forgive me if my mind was elsewhere.”

“Too bad they failed. You could have joined mommy and daddy that way huh?” Oscar replied with a twisted grin.

Eren’s face contorted in rage. Oscar had known that was going too far and was prepared to move out of the way as Eren’s fist grazed by his face.

The pair sprawled, with Oscar forcing his way on top raining blows on the taller speck. A small crowd formed to watch, composed of those that had been going through Eren’s phone and some others from the grub shack.

Eren tasted his own blood. He felt Oscar grabbing at his hair in an attempt to control his head. As the younger man was attempting to strangle him, Eren chomped down hard on Oscar’s finger hard enough to reach bone and elicit a shout of pain from him. 

It gave him the time he needed to roll them over until Eren was on top. Oscar clutched his finger, which was now bleeding everywhere. Before he could react Eren landed a perfectly placed punch on his jaw. The blow knocked Oscar’s head back into the frosty pavement, bouncing his skull off the ground. 

Oscar’s eyes rolled to the bank of his head. The fight was over, he was concussed and now spitting up his own teeth and blood. Eren didn’t care. He continued punching him, slamming the man’s head into the ground until he felt a sudden pressure around his arm. 

Gabriel was there. “Eren that’s enough!” He shouted, pulling him off the now motionless Oscar. Angrily Eren lashed out, kicking his unconscious body repeatedly until Gabriel hauled him out of range. In the commotion Eren snatched his phone off the ground, before Gabriel overpowered him. Back to his office where he oversaw the community.

Eren was used to getting in trouble with the mayor of Northside. Ever since he was a teen, he had been in front of that desk many times and received countless scolding’s. It never changed anything or meant much. Until now.

Now as Gabriel mentioned, the district had reached a mathematical dilemma. The specks of Northside would need to integrate into the larger Westside community. However due to resource constraints not all of them would be able to make the transition. Unfortunately, about a fifth of Northside’s population would have to find their own solution. 

“Eren please try to see my point of view.” Gabriel had said softly. His voice was almost ashamed. “It’s not just your disciplinary history that’s impacted my decision. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t trust you have somewhere to go… I hope you can understand that.”

Eren spent the rest of the afternoon in his room, staring at the wall blankly. It was bound to happen sooner or later he supposed. He had been even more of an outcast since his return. Although now it was for reasons besides his family status.

Alice Evans. 

A college student at Norwich University studying English Literature with a focus in poetry. Mediocre grades, but a talented tennis player for the college team. Most likely what gave her the edge to get into such a prestigious university. In her sophomore year she joined a sorority.

Her former roommate was a drop-out named Sylvia Collins. A party girl who flunked her first two semesters of classes and was kicked out of Norwich altogether. Her parents cut her off when she couldn’t hold down a job for more than a few months, but she always found a way to convince them to support her another year while she got her life back together. Unsurprisingly all that money went to cheap margaritas and weed. 

Tae rubbed her eyes. It was well past midnight, and she was still studying these two. On the surface neither woman seemed like they would be capable of such barbarity like she had witnessed. Yet she had seen it herself.

For the past several days, her dining room table had been overflowing with loose papers. Financial history, medical records, text message receipts, employment history… it made her feel nostalgic. 

This is the last time, right? She asked herself with a yawn. Tae strolled out of her office and into her bedroom. You said you were done…

In a lockbox beneath a hidden compartment of her closet, she withdrew another smaller wooden box. She flipped the lid open to reveal a set of syringes. One of the slots was missing from her most recent excursion. Only one dose was left. She hadn’t imagined she would really need more than that in America. 

She would need more. Tae shut the box tightly and returned it to the chest. Before she closed it all the way, she noticed something sticking out from the bottom of the stack. A small photograph.

Tae reached for it. As gently as could be, she plucked it from the lockbox. 

A longing smile touched her lips. A pair of Korean women were in the photo. One normal sized, smiling widely from ear to ear. In her hands was another young woman. A speck also smiling and waving happily for the camera, unbothered by the immense size difference. It all seemed like such a long time ago.

You’re a monster.

Tae’s smile faded.

Just go… I never want to see you again.

She returned the picture to the lockbox and let out a deep sigh. Slowly she returned the contents to it. Am I really going down this road again?

It had already been a risk to go after the bartender. She had beaten both girls badly, perhaps this was going too far. 

A ringtone sounded from her laptop in the next room. Tae stepped out of the closet and returned the lockbox to its hiding place. Someone was trying to video chat with her. 

Incoming call from Grace Chen. Tae wiped the matter from the corner of her eyes before answering. 

“Can you hear me?” Tae heard her cousin’s voice before the camera activated. The video picture was rather blurry for several seconds before the picture quality sharpened. 

She smiled. “Yep. Sorry it took a moment for the video to load.” Tae replied. It felt nice to speak in Mandarin again. “How are you Grace?” 

“Tired… I just got back from a conference in Sydney. Aunt Min wasn’t impressed with last quarter’s results in Australia and New Zealand.” Grace responded with a lazy yawn. “And how about you Ji-soo? Feels like forever since we’ve spoken.” Grace asked.

So long I forgot the sound of my own name. Tae grimaced. “Not well until recently, to be honest.” She admitted. “I spent the last few months since I left drinking like a fish.” 

Grace frowned in concern. “What changed?” 

Tae paused. “I… met someone.”

Her cousin blinked. She hadn’t been expecting that. “A guy?” Tae nodded, earning a giggle from Grace. “How long have you been together?” She inquired.

“It’s not that serious yet. We kissed once and have a date tomorrow.” Tae blushed. She squirmed in her seat. Talking about her romantic life like this with Grace felt so bizarre. 

“What’s he like?” Grace asked.

“He’s really sweet. I don’t know how to describe it. We spoke for hours a few days ago over dinner and he spent the night.” Tae said. “It felt like minutes, I haven’t laughed as much or felt that happy since… you know.” She trailed off sheepishly and rubbed her arm.

Grace let out a chuckle. “Is he cute?”

“I-I… think he’s quite good looking, yes.” She noticed Grace still grinning wickedly at her. “Alright how about we change the topic!” Tae said in exasperation with her cheeks bright crimson.

“Aw. You’re too cute. Actually, I was calling to let you know I intend to visit you for the holidays. I couldn’t stand the idea of you alone.” 

“You’re coming to the US?” Tae asked. Was it your idea, or your aunt’s? Grace nodded.

“Would I be intruding?” She asked. “I can always-.”

“No. It’ll be great to see you again and yeah, I’ve really missed you and everybody back home.” Tae cut in. She hesitated. 

Grace noticed her silence. “What is it?”

“...if you could bring a few speck doses, it would be greatly appreciated.”