Henry hurried inside a portal to his bubble house, one of the infinite apartments in limbo. He locked the door with a magnetic card, forgetting about debt collectors who were after his student loans.

Stressed like never, Henry tossed himself onto an armchair, then breathed in and out. - "Finally, a moment of solitude."

As long as he paid the rental fee, Henry knew nobody had access to his only shelter. With running water and nutrition-bar synthesizer he could hide forever, although the taste of the latter was rather dull.

Unfortunately, there was not much to do apart from watching the state-controlled TV. He couldn't afford access to limbo-net, considering his payslips were payments for finding and extracting data about ephemeral anomalies in the second great spatial chasm. He considered himself lucky, since his house lied at the very periphery of this place.

Regardless, it was not time for work, it was time for rest, so he turned on his television and pushed buttons on his remote until it landed on his favorite music-streaming channel. Twenty-four hours of uninterrupted soothing melody, that would hopefully lull him to sleep.

Henry's eyes gradually closed and all his worries vanished, accompanied by slow notes and gentle piano.

When Henry was about to fall asleep, he picked up a soft whisper next to his ear.

“Good night.” - It spoke.

Henry's heart skipped a beat and his eyes opened in an instant. His head turned, looking all around the tiny spherical room, but he found nothing apart from his beer bottles and emptied noodle cups.

Must've been a half-sleep hallucination. - He thought to himself, then allowed the music to steal all his woes and finally drifted away.

[ … ]

When Henry woke up, his half-conscious vision wandered around the room, confused. He felt like he was in a different place, and it was justifiable thought.

His awareness quickly returned to normal levels and he realized that although he was still in a bubble, it appeared unlike his. The TV was in the right spot, still transmitting the soothing sounds, but his piles of trash were gone, the walls of his room were in creamy pink color instead of dirt-stained blue, there were long pots with hanging plants or flowers, and on top of that – there even was an aquarium with tiny jellyfishes.

“Huh!!?” - Henry gasped from the initial shock.

He stood up and walked to the aquarium, touching it in disbelief. - “Am I dreaming?” - The jellyfishes skittered away in all directions.

Full of questions, Henry walked around the small house, searching for clues. The toilet was immaculate, the kitchen section was unusually clean and all the plates were placed in a dishwasher, in his wardrobe was a strange, gray astronaut suit and a helmet, and in a corner of the room was a sleeping bag that smelled like lavender.

“It's definitely not my house... am I locked here?” - Henry uttered in a grim realization. If it wasn't his house, there was no way out until the true owner would come. He could be trapped here, forever, stuck in limbo.

Henry rushed to the door and desperately swiped his card, a green lamp lit above the slot, signaling that the door are unlocked.

“Huh?” - Henry took a few steps back, falling onto his armchair, and noticed a few familiar stains on them. If his card worked, he was definitely home, but it looked like someone had access to it and that's what scared him. Limbo houses weren't supposed to work like this, If somebody moved out, the card was traceable and always transferred to the next owner.

I can't risk getting out right now. - Henry thought, but he desperately wanted to know what was going on. He grabbed a remote and started changing channels, perhaps there would be some hint. One click later, he noticed a red bar that moved at the bottom of the screen.

“The capital of Rveol surrendered. Astoria Valderiea reigns supreme. Revolution in lower layers, miner unions legalized. Breakthroughs in technology development and medicine, scarlet growth cured, automation of anomaly tracing. Upheaval in the financial markets, hyper-growth of limbo apartments pricing...”

“What...?” - Henry dropped into his armchair. He couldn't comprehend the amount of revolutionary information. He changed the channel twice more, a journalist lady was commenting on the alteration of local laws. The officials of the democratic government announced their resignation and transferred all rule to Astoria, an autocratic leader.

Henry anxiously watched a parade of alien, cybernetic troops, but uncannily – they didn't appear like a direct enemy, but rather like representatives of an official security force. There were some riots and only aggressive people were arrested, all others were allowed to voice their opinions and issue official complaints, but what appeared different were pamphlets that explained the legality of the operation.

Astoria was a rightful owner of almost all assets in the capital and by an administrative mistake, the lease wasn't paid.

As Henry changed channels, he noticed that the green lamp next to the card slot lit up again. He switched off the TV and prepared mentally for the worst.

Was this the day, he would be kicked out?

Nerve-wracked, he looked at the door, they opened just slightly and he heard a quiet. - “Meow.”

It was a white kitten with a brown spot on its eye.

The cute visitor made him drop his guard, barely for a moment when a tall, young woman entered his room. She had long, straight, pale blue hair with pink highlights and radiant, azure eyes with yellow, cross-shaped pupils.

It was none but Astoria herself, carrying bags of groceries. Henry just stared, he couldn't comprehend what was happening, and he couldn't muster out a word.

“Oh, hi.” - Astoria smiled brightly. - “You're finally awake!”

Henry stood awkwardly until Astoria put the bags away and extended a hand towards him.

“I am Astoria... your landlord.”

“H... hello? Your majesty, I assume.” - Henry muttered as he shook her hand, unsure what to say.

“Oh, so you saw the news? You can just call me Astoria. What is your name?”

“Uhm, sorry. I'm Henry. Henry Solbell.”

“Nice to meet you, Henry.” - Astoria smiled even wider, revealing her dimples.

“Uhm... yeah.” - Henry scratched the back of his head nervously. - “To what I owe the pleasure of ehm... our new supreme leader visiting this humble void bubble?”

“Straight to business, isn't it, Henry?” - Astoria nudged the man playfully. - “Why don't you help me unpack groceries first?”

“Uh... sure, I could do that.”

Henry lifted the bags and put them on a kitchen counter, then together with Astoria loaded the cupboards and the fridge. Henry noticed many commodities that he normally wasn't able to afford, such as green tea, coffee beans, chicken breast, pepper, bacon, frozen waffles, and a variety of exotic fruits.

“Ah-ah! Please leave the vegetables, rice, and chicken on the table. Oh, and spices.” - Astoria requested.

“Okay...”

“...and prepare the pan and a pot.”

“...sure.” - Henry was stupefied by how bizarre the situation was. The supreme leader of the country was apparently asking for his assistance in cooking.

“...and chop the onion, while you're at it.”

Henry did just as she requested, afraid of possible repercussions. He wouldn't dare to ask questions, not until they were done, but it didn't take long, since Astoria didn't seem to require his help any longer and transferred all her focus to the preparation of dinner.

“...so, is there anything you wanted to ask, Henry?” - Astoria said while tasting the sauce. - “Mmmm... delicious!”

“...eh, about that.” - Henry decided to be blunt. - “...will I be thrown out?”

“Well, depends, do you plan to keep paying the rent?”

“I guess so.”

“...but you know about the inflation of prices?”

“I heard a thing.”

“...so, how long is your contract?”

“Ehm... indefinite?”

Astoria almost dropped her spoon. - “What... what do you mean!!?”

“Ekhm, it states I can stay as long as I want, as long as I pay a fixed sum.”

Astoria turned. - “That's impossible! Show me the documents!”

“Uh... here.” - Henry pressed a convexity on his card and a hologram showed. Astoria studied it with uttermost focus, but as she did Henry mentioned a jumping lid. - “Uhm... your rice.”

“OHH!!!” - Astoria sprinted to the pot and turned down the heat. - “A moment, please!”

“Yeah, sure. I can wait.” - Henry said, then sat in the armchair and stared at the ceiling, until Astoria was done with her meal.

“Here, yours.” - She put a steaming plate of curry on a stool in front of Henry,

Henry paused, in disbelief - “...thank you?”

“Enjoy!” - Astoria replied, then moved to eat at the counter.

Henry wasn't sure what to say, so he decided to wait until they both finished eating. He took a chunk of chicken on a spoon and tasted it, the flavor of the spices was positively overwhelming. He never had a decent meal, and he barely realized before his plate was already empty.

“Do you want seconds?” - Astoria asked. - “I always prepare enough for leftovers.”

“Yea... sure.” - Henry stood up and moved to pots, to refill his plate. He felt that a chance like this would not repeat itself ever again.

When Astoria finished eating, she patiently waited for Henry, who gobbled up the rice in big portions. She laughed lightly, proud of herself. - “I assume it tasted good?”

“I never had anything better in my life.” - Henry admitted.

“I imagine, I could see your diet.” - Astoria chuckled.

“That... I'm sorry If you had to see it.”

“Oh... If seeing was the only thing! You've almost managed to ruin this place, it took me hours to restore the walls.”

“Did... did you clean this?” - Henry asked hesitantly.

“...Who else could?”

Henry felt more than a bit ashamed. - “If I knew there would be a new tenant, I would've tidied it up.”

“New tenant?” - Astoria laughed. - “You have one thing wrong, and one thing almost right.”

Henry just stared, clearly confused.

“Your contract is binding, I can't toss you out! I can't believe my subcontractors allowed to sign an indefinite lease!”

Henry sighed with relief.

“However, there is a tiny bit little detail.” - Astoria said. - “Do you know the intricacies of how limbo houses work?”

“Uh, it's a pocket dimension, right?”

“Correct, but I meant a bigger picture. Landlords, like me, usually live in the upper layers, where time runs exponentially slower than here. We collect paychecks for eons of time, while only a nanosecond passes here.”

“That's... clever, I assume?”

“...but you see, there is a problem. I can't stay in the upper layers anymore. I have to hide... so... landlords have a right, in situations of extreme danger... to temporarily occupy someone's property.”

“Wait... does that mean...?”

“I am your new, involuntary roommate!”