Free Barcode: Cavern of Youth by Kashif Ross

me.”
    “Your voice.” I recollect, “You’re the guy that sat at my bed after I killed Spencer, right?”
    “Yes! Wait. You didn’t remember my face?”
    “I never saw it. But your booming vocals nearly killed me.”
    “You were still weak. I could see how that would be a problem.” Hades walks away. “Well, you two are clearly busy. I want you to learn how to use the cavern as well. When my slaves die, they’re forced to spend time in the shadows. You’re protecting my most gifted group, so I’ll let you get to work.”
    “I think I have some questions for you.”
    “We all have questions, but you shouldn’t ask until you’re ready for the answers,” he says, waving. “I also work at The Darke Lord shop near Seth’s place. Catch me there if you’re ever in town.”
    Seth’s place?

Seven
    “But you spoke to Hades?”
    “But you spoke to Hades?”
    “That’s what he said his name was.”
    “His name is Hades. That makes him Hades.”
    “How long are we going to do this? You really think I traveled to Hades and spoke to a real life god?”
    Antonio frowns his digital face and flares his nose. “Yes.”
    After finishing the sandwich I stole from Seth’s refrigerator, I clean up my mess and place everything in the dishwasher.
    Seth’s apartment is always a mess. I often sneak over in the mornings when he’s out getting drunk. Antonio says the ex-genius goes out for training, but not even the digital monster seems to believe that.
    Though the nanobots aren’t as capable as they were before Seth’s skills started slipping, they do an excellent job of cleaning up the place when I come over. When everything’s organized, the living room is visually appeasing.
    A few months back, Seth had the carpet removed and aesthetically decorated the stained concrete.
    Though Seth’s intelligence has deteriorated, his home designer skills have evolved. The square patterns on the floor look more artistic than some of the best cubist paintings in the thirtieth century. The white, red, and black designs could make me dizzy from staring at them too long, but they increase the room’s attractiveness.
    He’s been experimenting with using MMIBS on fabrics as well. Not only did he change the frames of his couches to a sleeker and durable threaded material, he brightened the color of the red pillows to give the room a lively focal point against the white furniture.
    “What about after? Did you ever learn how to breathe the fog?”
    Taking a seat next to Antonio, I reply, “Yeah. It was difficult though. First, Blue-Skin—”
    “Can you please stop calling him that? You’re awful at making nicknames.”
    “But it’s fun. Anyway, Blue-Skin took me away from his girlfriend and explained the similarities between the water and the fog. Supposedly, the fog that eats on dead flesh also helps restore life. But you have to drink from the Daughters of Danaus first. He gave me a fair warning. It seems that they’ll sometimes poison the water and kill you. Depends on their mood.”
    “Nothing’s changed over the years.”
    “Whatever. I don’t get it from a scientific point of view, but I was down for drinking cave water. It was obviously sterile because the golden bridge room boiled it at a ridiculous temperature.”
    Antonio’s image begins flickering. “Damn software. Update!”
    “Seth’s lost his touch, huh?”
    “Get back to the fog.”
    “It was simple, but painful. A low mist appeared over the river, and Blue-Skin said I had to drink as much as I could while inhaling deeply. I didn’t realize how hard that was, but I kept drinking. I tried getting up once, but the girls held on to me for an hour.”
    Holding one finger up, I rush to the bathroom again. I’ve been doing this for the past eight hours. My overactive bladder has prevented me from falling asleep all night. That’s why I decided to visit the geeks’ apartment. Not to mention, I need Antonio’s help. But he keeps getting distracted.
    I