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Welcome to A Bedtime Story. I'm Matthew Mitchell, and tonight's story is titled The Floating Fountain, Part 2 of this week's series: The Case of the Vanishing Gravity.

The Low-G Lounge was located so far underground that the patrons often forgot which way was north. It was a place where the walls were padded, mostly because the gravity was so inconsistent that a sneeze could send a person flying into a brick wall. The air was thick with the smell of old grease and ozone-free cleaning spray. Cletus and Beatrice arrived, the latter looking like a deep-sea diver with all the lead weights hanging from her waist. She walked with a heavy, clanking gait that drew several stares from the regulars.

The bartender was a man named Gus Vex. He had arms the size of tree trunks and a face that looked like it had been carved out of an old tire. He was currently polishing a glass that didn't need polishing, watching a group of teenagers try to play pool while the balls drifted three inches above the felt. It was a frustrating game, but Gus didn't seem to mind as long as they paid for their sodas.

"Cletus," Gus grunted, his voice sounding like gravel in a blender. "I haven't seen you since the great magnetic reversal of twenty-four. Who is the anchor?"

"This is Beatrice," Cletus said, nodding toward his client, who was trying to sit on a stool without accidentally launching herself. "Someone put a guzzler on her shoe. I suspect there is a master collector somewhere in the district. Have you noticed any unusual spikes in the local grid? Or perhaps anyone coming in here with a suspiciously large amount of electrical equipment and a guilty conscience?"

Gus stopped polishing and leaned over the bar. "The fountain in the plaza outside has been acting strange. It is a water fountain, but for the last three hours, the water has been forming perfect spheres and hovering in the air. The tourists think it is a new art installation, but I think the plumbing is confused. Also, my refrigerator started hummin' in a key that I'm pretty sure is illegal in this part of town. Everything is trying to move toward the center of the square."

Cletus turned to Beatrice. "A gravity-vortex. If someone is collecting weight, they need a central hub to process the energy. A fountain is a perfect cover because it already has a constant flow of matter. They can hide the machinery in the pipes and use the water to mask the heat signature of the batteries."

They left the bar and headed toward the Grand Plaza. The sight was indeed spectacular. Hundreds of gallons of water were suspended in the air, forming a shimmering, translucent forest of liquid globes. The sun caught the edges of the water, creating rainbows that danced across the faces of the onlookers. People were walking among them, poking the spheres and laughing as the water splashed onto their faces. It looked like a dream, but Cletus knew it was a nightmare for the city's structural integrity.

"Someone is very busy," Cletus muttered, pulling a small scanning device from his pocket. "Beatrice, stay close. If the vortex shifts, your paperweights might not be enough to keep you on the pavement. If you feel a sudden tug, grab onto that bronze statue of the mayor and don't let go."

He followed the scan to the base of the fountain, where a series of thick, silver cables snaked into the maintenance hatch. He pried open the hatch and climbed down into the darkness. The space beneath the fountain was cramped and smelled of wet copper. In the center of the room was a machine that looked like a giant, glowing hourglass. Instead of sand, it was filled with swirling blue sparks. Every few seconds, the sparks would pulse, and Beatrice would let out a small yelp as she felt herself lift slightly off the ground.

Working the controls was a young man with messy hair and goggles that were far too large for his face. He was wearing a lab coat that was covered in coffee stains and was humming a jaunty tune while tapping on a tablet. He looked more like a confused student than a master criminal.

"Excuse me," Cletus said, clearing his throat loudly. "I believe you have something that belongs to my friend. Specifically, her ability to stand on the floor without the assistance of lead fishing weights."

The young man jumped, nearly dropping his tablet into a puddle. "Oh! I didn't think anyone would notice yet. I am Sterling, and I am conducting a very important experiment in social buoyancy. I'm a junior engineer at the academy, and I'm trying to prove that weight is just a mental construct enforced by the planet."

"Social buoyancy?" Beatrice asked, leaning over Cletus's shoulder and glaring at the boy. "You turned me into a human kite for an experiment? I almost floated into a ceiling fan this morning! My cat thinks I'm a ghost!"

Sterling nodded enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious to her anger. "It is for the upcoming Sky-Piercer Gala! The guests want to experience the thrill of weightlessness without the hassle of going into space. Space is so expensive, you know? I am just pre-loading the collectors. I have tagged about fifty people so far. It is all very scientific and mostly harmless. I chose people who looked like they needed a lift."

"Mostly harmless?" Cletus asked, pointing to the glowing hourglass. "You are creating a localized gravitational vacuum. If that machine reaches critical mass, it won't just steal people's weight. It will start pulling the air out of the buildings. You are creating a miniature black hole in the middle of a shopping district. The 'lift' you are giving people is going to turn into a 'launch' very soon."

Sterling blinked, his smile finally wavering as he looked at the readings on his tablet. "The manual didn't say anything about air. It just said it would create a festive atmosphere of lightness and joy. It said the energy would be recycled into the gala's disco ball."

"The manual was likely written by someone who wanted to sell you a very expensive and very dangerous machine," Cletus said. "Now, tell me how to shut it down before we all become part of the ceiling decorations in the subway."

"I can't," Sterling whispered, looking horrified as a red light began to blink on the hourglass. "I locked the sequence to prevent tampering. It is set to transfer all the collected gravity to the Sky-Piercer Tower in twenty minutes. If I stop it now, all that energy will snap back to the original owners at once. It would be like falling from a ten-story building while sitting in your living room."

Cletus looked at Beatrice. If that happened, the sudden return of her weight would be catastrophic. They needed a more delicate solution. They needed to find a way to bleed off the energy slowly or find the tower and stop the reception from the other end.

"We have to go to the tower," Cletus decided, grabbing Sterling by the collar of his lab coat. "Sterling, you are coming with us. Bring your tablet and every manual you have. We have a gala to crash, and if we don't succeed, the guests are going to have a very heavy ending to their evening."