JULES CAPULET
"No!" I shoot upwards from my bed, panting for air, feeling the phantom waves crush against my skin, defile my lungs. "Help me. Help..."
Embarrassed, I gather the sheets around myself. Nutrix runs in, pulling the robe off me as I pant and pant, trying to find my breath. "Hush, beauty, what's wrong?"
I shake my head, pressing my forehead to Nutrix's shoulder. "Can others enter my Eye-Lens dreams?"
Nutrix's perfect, surgical-operated brow creases in worry at that. "Impossible. Your parents bought out the entire domain, so you wouldn't have any run-ins with rabble."
I think back on the girl, the one who gave me her hand. The one who held me tight and took the brunt of the horrible waves. "My Eye-Lens must have malfunctioned, then. I dreamt of a nightmare. Storms crashing on the beach."
"It might have been the hackers. You know how long the law's been trying to track those crazies down? Fry and his crew went out their spouting nonsense and causing chaos in the Eye-Lens code just for kicks." Nutrix lifts his eyes to the ceiling in mock prayer. I know he's only slightly more religious than a nihilist. "It'd be a better world if Officer Prince got a hold of them. But they're technically a religious order, and Prince is a devout one, no fault of his. He'd rather anger those scummy Montagues before he did the gods."
"Oh, Jules!" I hear my father coming in from the wall monitors. The notification flashes across my Eye-Lens. Three rapid blinks, and he's synced into the screens. Mother stands, dour, in front of him.
"Father, mother," Nutrix helps me draw my sheets about myself, trying to calm down. I flash a smile, the picture of poise. "What news?"
They part, and between them stands a tanned man with slicked-back hair, an expensive dress-shirt and fitted trousers, and at least a dozen fully armed guards. Maybe more.
Paris holds a pair of monitor rings, pre-loaded with multiple credits, and a contract.
The merger between our two businesses and families.
***
Hey, it's Ro Montague here. Don't forget to vote and comment... or else.
Your daily wisdom for the day?
I still think this Paris guy's compensating for something with all those bodyguards.
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Ro (A Cyberpunk Retelling of Romeo and Juliet)
Science Fiction"I'm not star-crossed. Not unless you cross me." Ro is a Montague who killed her father to inherit the drug-running business and their considerable stash of bio-tech. Jules is the heir to the Capulet Casino and the single rose of the blood-stained...
