"You will be the next High Liberty. Your job will  be to hold the scales of liberty in your hands and judge this city. Your job will be to level this city out. Would you like a cigar?"

"I don't smoke."

He laughs, "You will. One day. It's a lot of stress this job."

My nerves are getting the best of me. I had expected to one day be told that I was going to be the High Liberty when I was much older. I didn't expect them to tell me so soon. My heart is skipping a beat when I hear the words come out of his mouth.

"I could only imagine. I'm feeling a little weak. May I sit?"

"Please do."

I look over at the chair at that moment and move for it. The responsibility of this all is becoming a lot bigger than I could imagine. I was preparing to be the most important man in the world at any point now.

The High Liberty stares in my eyes for a few minutes. He puffs at his cigar.

"Do you know the name of the statue behind you? The one who holds the scales of Justice?" he asks me, "Who is Lady Justice?"

"The goddess Themis."

"Yes. But she isn't a goddess. She is actually a Titaness. They came before even the Gods. She stood for divine law. Law before law. That is what you'll become. A titan in this city. The city rules the nation. The nation rules the world. You'll rule it all. Law before law."

My stomach turns.

"Don't feel too good."

"I understand being nervous. I remember sitting in the same chair as you are 28 years ago. Some strange man told me that I was going to be something I wasn't ready for. I was just like you. I was a young gay Libra, studied in what was right and wrong with society but not really experiencing it firsthand. It's important that you know early so that you have that preparation."

"Did Liberty Paris know?" I ask.

He nods, "Liberty Paris handpicked you. She tells me that there is no other student who understands what needs to be done like you. She says you understand the scales of life. She says you are fair and balanced."

There is no higher compliment to a Libra.

I nod attempting not to smile and seem tacky, "I hope not to disappoint sir."

"I'm sure you won't. You'll start off in a position called the Heir Apparent Liberty. As the Heir Apparent you'll work as a Liberty judging the lives of others. You'll be assigned a Virgo."

"A Virgo? Sir?"

"Nyxx ..."

I wonder who he is talking to but all of a sudden I see someone standing at my side. I don't even notice she is standing there until she is standing there. She is quiet as all . She is literally right next to me before I notice. Her hair is jet black. Her skin is pale and the color of milk. Her eyes are blacker than charcoal. She wears a tight black outfit and had what looks like some sort of weapon at her side. She stands in military fashion completely stoic. I see the glow underneath her skin that I saw with the men on the elevator earlier. It's clear she is one of these cyborg things.

"She's a cyborg..." I notice.

"The Nation trains Virgos in the art of war. They undergo certain...enhancements. They are the hand of the government. One day you'll command all of them. Right now, you'll command her."

"I don't think I need a bodyguard sir."

He laughs.

He gets up at that moment. He looks outside of the window, "The Capital city is dangerous. Once people know you are the Heir Apparent your life is going to be in danger. Nyxx here is going to keep you safe. She'll stay with you at all times. She's very lethal. You should be quite safe with her."

I look over at Nyxx.

I remember the Virgos I met on a train. They hadn't had any enhancements done. They had just turned 21. Maybe they get enhancements when they are in the city for a long time. She doesn't seem to speak at all. She just stands there completely silent. I wonder just how lethal she is. She's a slim woman. I didn't see any muscles or anything. She was tall but I couldn't get over how slim she was. The most intimidating thing about her was her expression.

"Sir. May I ask a question?"

"Yes."

I look over at him, "Who exactly am I in danger from?"

He smiles at me.

"You should go rest, Jr. Nyxx will take you to your new Penthouse. Tomorrow night is the Matchmaking ceremony. Rest up. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life."

***

The penthouse is just what I expect. It's in a building not too far from the Justice Building. This area of the city is called Uptown, supposedly. A lot of Libras and their spouses live in this area. The business sector isn't too far from Uptown. I guess that is where a lot of Gemini's go to work. I'm sitting around the apartment and staring at Nyxx.

"So, where you from?" I ask her.

Nyxx doesn’t speak. She just stares at me. Her dark intense eyes glare at me. She stands at the door. I wonder if she sleeps. I haven't seen her blink as of yet. Maybe it's the wiring in her or something like that. Maybe she can't blink.

I attempt to talk to her a few more times. Luckily, I get a knock on a door and I open it to see a few of my Libra friends coming to finally visit. I'd emailed them over my address quite a while ago.

"Look at this place..." Jackson says walking out, "Glass walls. Beautiful view. Oh my god. You have a robot that cleans up for you? Man, this is sick!"

Jackson is running around the house. Laurence and Laura at least act a little bit more civilized. They walk in and give me the common little Libra smirks and give slight glances around without trying to be too excitable or anything of the sort.

"Heir Apparent?" Laurence says smiling, "Well done."

"We all figured you'd do well for yourself," Laura states.

That's when someone else walks in. I roll my eyes when I see Shauna saunter her in my house. She has an attitude. I can tell. She walks past me not even acknowledging me. Her hand is crossed and tucked so tight that I think she's cold. She stares over at the view.

"My apartment isn't too far from here," she states, "I think I have a better view than you. I don't know. Yours is OK I guess."

I attempt to force a smile at Shauna, "You came to see me? How sweet."

She nods, "Yeah. Congratulations---or whatever."

I laugh. It's killing her right now. I can tell.

"Who's this?" Laura asks smiling.

Laura is a lesbian. She's always been one. Laurence has always been straight though. I'm watching as she smiles over at Nyxx. Nyxx doesn't even acknowledge her though. Nyxx just stands there like a statue.

"A Virgo," I respond, "Isn't that weird? That's what happens to Virgos I guess. I guess they've always been somewhat not human."

"What is she like a servant? A slave?" Shauna asks snapping a few times, "Hey you...get me a drink! Do you hear me? I'm a friend of your Libra master."

Nyxx just stands there. She doesn't blink. I just shake my head, "Leave her be Shauna."

"What's the point of having a slave who doesn't obey commands?"

I end up having to go to the fridge. The others get comfortable. It's nice having a time to unwind with my friends. We used to do this a lot back home. Here it was different. Here we were in this big city and we didn't know anyone. Luckily this fridge is able to make drinks for us. I pass them out among the Libras. Libras never really drink hard liquor so I pour us some wine. We have to keep it classy after all. I can tell this isn't really satisfying to Jackson but he doesn't want to complain about it.

"We should go out on the town," Jackson says, "See the city."

"It's dirty..." Laurence says.

His sister adds almost immediately, "It doesn't look safe."

I have to agree with the twins. It's quite usual. Sure, Jackson is my best friend but it's just because the twins always had each other. If it was only one of them I'd probably be much closer to either one of them. Jackson was just so different. Shauna has sprawled out on the sofa. She kicks up her feet as though this is her own place. The girl has an ego. I'll give her that much. She is the typical Libra girl. She's pretty and she's smart and she thinks there's nothing else besides being pretty and smart. Sometimes I think she doesn't take our responsibility as seriously as I would want.

I'm not surprised when she agrees with Jackson, "I want to be seen. We should go out."

"It's not safe. Why do you think I have this Virgo following me around? The High Liberty wouldn't tell me what's so dangerous about the city?"

"Will Nyxx follow you if you go out?" Jackson asks.

"Yeah."

"Then you're safe," Jackson returns quickly.

I look at the twins. They are thinking the same thing as me. It might be for other reasons though. The twins don't want to admit it but they are a little bit terrified of the filthy city life. We've never experienced anything like this growing up.

"It's not a good idea. Not the first night," I state, "We should be on the safe side."

"I don't know about you guys but I'm tired of hanging out with Libras," Shauna states, "Tomorrow is my last day as a single woman. Let's celebrate. Centuries ago people used to do these things called Bachelorette parties..."

"What's that?" Laurence asks.

"It's basically when people got married and did questionable behavior one last time before they got married," I respond, "It wasn't very appropriate...especially for a Libra."

Shauna gets up. She twirls around a little bit in her dramatic way. The girl thinks she is the queen of some island to herself.

"I have my whole life to be a proper lady. Tonight I want to dance and regret something. Tomorrow I'll be someone's wife. Tomorrow I'll be a Liberty. Today I just want to twirl."

"No...absolutely not," I respond.

"JB is going to be out..." Shauna responds, "A bunch of the Geminis and Aquarians are meeting at a local bar."

. Shauna starts walking to the door. A part of me wonders if JB would still be mad at me if I saw him. I have no choice.

I stop her.

"OK...I'll come..."

***

We arrive at the bar. The bar is called the Ice gallery. Everything is made of Ice except the floor. I walk in there blown away by the architecture of the place. The bars are made of clear blocks of ice. The cups are ice cups. The tables lining up the bar are made of ice too. The place seems relatively busy. It is relatively loud too. It's clear there are bunch of Leos. I see one of the Leos standing on a table being loud. He has his shirt off. I almost regret coming here.

"It's cold," Laurence  complains,

"People are staring at us," Laura replies.

I am about to add my own excuse to the list when I see JB. He's drinking. He has a table in the back. He's sitting with a few Gemini but the majority are Aquarians. I almost get cold feet but then I hear my name being called from across the bar.

"Jr! JB look...it's Jr!" a boy named Young-jae says.

I recognize Young-jae as being JB's best friend. He probably knows more about my relationship with JB than anyone save Jackson. Jackson looks over at me. I can tell it's going to be an awkward night.

Luckily my best friend leans in and whispers to me, "Head up. Walk over there. You're a Libra for god sakes."

It's rare that Jackson gives me any sort of encouragement. Maybe that's why I take it upon myself to follow it. I lead the others. I'm always the leader of my little group. A few of the Aquarians give us room for us to sit. They are always gentlemen. I've never met an Aquarian woman. Rumor is the Aquarian women aren't allowed to leave the Water Bearer City. They stayed in the city and raised kids who were born as Aquarians. I guess maybe the reason Aquarian boys were so well behaved was because they had so many women raising them as opposed to other signs who just had a few here and there.

I take a seat at