Everyone has moved away from the table and are scattered around between the dining room and the reflecting pool. Barlow stands in the general vicinity of everyone so that they can all hear him clearly. Staff members walk around, refilling wine glasses with large pours of Chardonnay; the fourth and final wine of the prepared tasting.

The parents sit on the staircase. Elisia’s head is cratered into her palms, her face hidden in grief. Flavius sits next to her with his hand on her shoulder, doing his best to comfort her. Genevieve has remained at the dining table, watching the wine pour into her cup. Her eyes are wet from tears. She continues snacking on the charcuterie to make herself feel better. Helena looks around the room, unhappy and slightly panicked that the mood of her brunch has taken a sudden rough turn. She snaps her fingers twice and the sommelier appears.

"Decant a bottle of father’s Mourvèdre. We’ll need a few more tannins to pair with this heavy atmosphere." Helena says jokingly, doing her best to encourage some positivity.

The sommelier nods and walks away. Berkeley paces back and forth in the hallway. He glances at Helena as he walks past her. ‘She really organized all of this without knowing that this Eclipse guy was bearing bad news?’ he wonders. He looks around the space, reviewing its excessive vanity, and realizes that Helena’s hubris is par for the course. He looks over towards Barlow.

"Do you know who took him?" Berkeley asks.

"It—" Jasper begins.

"It is unknown. Unfortunately, we have no more information at this time. As I said before, he was taken last week. We were able to trace Sebastian’s phone over a hundred miles outside of Oasis’ perimeter. After that, the signal stopped abruptly. As of now, we don’t know where he is. We do know that he was driving a company vehicle at the time of his abduction. And that is all the information I have for you today." Barlow explains.

‘All he has for us?’ Berkeley wonders. He looks over at Jasper. ‘What was he about to say?’

"You really don’t know who took him?" Berkeley asks out loud.

"We have no idea." Barlow answers.

"Wait. I don’t understand—" Berkeley starts.

"Berkeley! They don’t have an answer yet." Elisia raises her voice. Her eyes are red from crying.

Berkeley takes a moment to collect himself.

"I need some air." He says as he walks out of the hallway.

He walks over to the dining room table and taps on Genevieve’s shoulder. She looks up, her head wobbling from side to side. Berkeley gestures for her to follow.

…

Berkeley makes his way outside and into the large dry garden that surrounds the Archer château. The garden is filled with bamboo plants that have been genetically modified to have gold and maroon gradients seamlessly integrated into the stalks and leaves. A soccer ball sized robot that looks like a ridged chrome sphere rolls around in the dry garden’s gold-laced marble pebbles, creating beautiful swirling patterns as it navigates back and forth.

Berkeley watches the robot roll around for a moment before exhaling loudly. He rubs his eyebrows in frustration. There is a loud sound at the door he just exited from. He watches as Genevieve barely catches herself before falling to the ground.

"Whoa! Are you alright?" he asks as he walks over to her.

"Yeah I’m fine." She mumbles.

"The gravity in there is weird. How do they live like that?"

Genevieve motions towards the opulent house that surrounds them. "Pretty easily, I imagine." Her whole body sways from side to side.

"You sure you’re okay?" Berkeley asks with a smile. "Do you need to sit down or something?"

"I don’t think I’ve ever had this much wine before." Her head wobbles as she speaks.

"Oh. Right."

Berkeley guides Genevieve over to a nearby bench, helping her to sit down. She takes a moment to collect herself.

"So, what’s up?" she asks.

"They’re not telling us everything." He says.

"What… what do you mean?"

"They’re keeping something from us. I think they know who took Sebastian, but they don’t want to tell us who."

"They? You mean Barlow?"

"Jasper, too. Remember? He was going to say something when I asked about who was responsible. Then Barlow cut him off."

"No, I don’t remember." Genevieve shrugs.

"Oh." Berkeley looks away.

"But, I believe you."

"Okay."

"Why would Jasper know?" She squints her eyes.

"That… I don’t know. I don’t know anything about him. Maybe he’s connected to the Eclipse?" He shrugs.

"You think Auntie Helena would marry a shade? I’ve heard most of those Eclipse agents are single. It’s no wonder. You can’t trust a guy who keeps secrets for a living." Genevieve drunkenly rambles.

"Yeah I… I don’t know about any of that," Berkeley shakes his head. "But what I do know is that I’ve seen this stuff before. The state likes to keep its secrets and the Royal Guard helps it do so. I’ve had to withhold information on the job and I’ve had higher-ups hold out on me. The way those two are acting… I’m very familiar with it."

"Hmm." Genevieve nods. "So what do you want to do about it?"

"Well… I can’t imagine that Barlow is going to want to stick around. When he leaves… I’ll try to keep the wine pouring." He explains.

"Oh yeah!" She nods with an excited smile.

"Nope. You’re done. But maybe Jasper will eventually slip up and give me the answer I need."

"The answer you need?"

"Yeah I… I don’t know. I just need to know. Whoever took Sebastian… I just need to know more."

She thinks for a moment, then nods. "…yeah. Okay. I’ll help."

"Thanks." Berkeley smiles. Tears begin to well in his eyes.

Genevieve begins to tear up, too. She places a hand on Berkeley’s shoulder as his head lands in his palms. Cratered by grief. Heavy with guilt.