Mikayla stirred, her head aching, she let out a groan and rolled onto her back, the silk sheets gliding smoothly over her. She opened her eyes and frowned, silk sheets? She blinked and squinted at the high ceiling and the three flat disks embedded in it in a row. She raised an eyebrow, those aren’t my lights. She sat up and felt the silk fall off of her, looking down and gasping, she quickly gathered up the sheets around herself, where are my clothes? Panic rose as she scanned the room for any hint of where she was.

It was an elegant if simple bedroom, a single dresser sat almost precisely a meter away from an ultramodern-looking vanity. She glanced at herself in the mirror, her hair was a mess and she had marks on her neck and shoulders. She felt heat rise to her face and kept searching. There were two doors, one that was partially ajar and looked like it led into a bathroom. The other door was shut. Besides that, there was a sliding panel that probably opened into a walk-in closet, the bed beneath her and a single bedside table. She looked up from it as light shifted in the room, there was a tinted window that looked out over the city below. She rested her hand on the mattress, it was so soft.

What the hell did I do last night? My head…

She tried to retrace everything, her eyes flicking around. She spotted something sitting on the surface next to her and turned to it. A note underneath the sleek alarm clock. She pulled it out.

I spoke with your boss and arranged for a day off for you. He was more than happy to provide it. Get some rest, it was an exciting night. I had fun. I’m off to a meeting now and won’t be back for a little while, Marta is there if you need anything at all.

When I get back, I have some exciting news for you.

Until then,

Sonya>

Marta stared at the note in shock, she looked down at the sheets, then at herself in the mirror. She reached up and touched the sensitive mark on her neck and wanted to die, right then and there. She pulled the sheet over her head and hid underneath the pillow behind her. “Oh no… what have I done?” She whined, tossing about left and right, her face felt like it was going to catch fire. She finally stopped and stared at the ceiling, “Damn it, I can’t remember any of it. Why’d I drink so much?”

A knock came to the door, “Miss Summers?”

Mikayla jumped, sitting up and fussing with her sheets until every inch was covered except her head, “M-Marta?”

“Good morning, may I come in?” The maid asked.

Mikayla sighed, “Uh… sure?”

The door opened and the maid stepped inside, her hands resting in front of her. She looked absolutely regal even if her maid outfit was a little much. The woman strode over to the foot of the bed and inclined her head, “It’s a little before noon, Miss Summers. How are you feeling?”

Mikayla looked down at herself, “Embarrassed, confused, scared?”

The woman nodded, “I understand, how about a small meal and some coffee, after a shower of course,” Marta said, gesturing to the bathroom. “I’ll have an outfit ready for you when you get out.”

Mikayla took a deep breath, “D-did she really call Frank? Did I mess things up? Why is she being so nice?” She rambled out, none of it made any sense to her. She barely knew the woman and suddenly she invited her out to drinks and stood up for her. Oh my god, Angela! She had Angela kicked out of the club! Mikayla let out a groan and held her head. What should I do?

Marta stood in silence for a heartbeat before sighing and sitting down on the bed, “Miss Summers, Mikayla,” She said, getting her attention, “I cannot begin to explain to you what Miss Chernovna has on her mind, she is a… complicated woman. Has been ever since I met her years ago. She’s grown more so over the years. I can’t speak for her,” She said gently and sat up straight, looking towards the door. “What I can say is that you, Miss Summers, are the master of yourself.”

Mikayla stared at her, confused, “Huh?”

“What I mean to say is, you are allowed to enjoy yourself now and then. There is nothing wrong with meeting someone and having a good time and that being it, if it becomes something else, that is all well and good but it does not need to be complicated and you do not need to feel obligated, it’s your body,” Marta said with a smile, “Sonya feels the same way, I’m sure. She thinks highly of you and your talents,” Marta continued, “She did indeed contact your boss this morning and speak up for you. He was only too happy to acquiesce,” She let out a breath, “In short, no, you did not ‘mess things up’, Miss Summers. You are fine and safe here.”

Mikayla looked up at Marta, eyes a little watery, “I don’t get it. No one’s ever told me to not feel bad after, you know,” She flushed.

Marta got up from her seat, “Well, there's a first time for everything, go take a shower, Miss Summers and we’ll have some coffee next to the overlook.”

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The designer pressed her lips together and fought back the tears of gratitude. It felt strange to feel a sense of positivity after everything, but she wouldn’t let it go. “Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome.”

–

The research facility Sonya was standing in had at one point been constructed by an AI Lab before it was bought out and consolidated overseas. The gleaming hall she walked through was the height of ultramodern style mixed with the functionality of a secure laboratory. Despite the quality of the place, no one had wanted it. Most major companies that were doing research and development in house already had facilities of their own and there was no reason to move all the way to the heart of Manhattan in order to spend the capital on setting up a brand new lab.

In short, the place had come remarkably cheap.

Her heels clicked as she made her way down the hall, Amos next to her, eagerly talking about his latest projects. “I’m gonna need more monster remains, Sonya, tons of ‘em. Every piece of those things is a treasure trove. Your eyes are amazing, being able to suss out which parts are the most valuable. It would have taken years to figure it all out. We’re way ahead of the game,” He said with a smug grin, “Especially the cores, I was wondering why you were so careful about how much you told the government about the parts of the monsters. I figured, the more you explained the more inclined they would be to help us. But damn it all, they’re packed with nothing short of raw energy, I’ll be able to power this entire building with them in a few months if everything goes as planned.”

Sonya smirked, she’d been ordered on more than one occasion to dismantle and set aside the useful parts of a monster during her time as a field scout. Collecting materials was just part of her duties, so of course she knew what was valuable and what was garbage. He didn’t need to know the real reason, though. “I’m glad you’re so excited, Amos, you seemed so hesitant when we first came to an agreement.”

“You had your battle-maid chase me down in an alley, you’ll forgive me if I didn’t think you were a little suspicious,” He chucked, “Still are.”

“I’m certainly not a saint,” Sonya agreed.

The two of them laughed as they arrived at a door and stopped, “Alright, I made the whole ensemble to order. It took a while to figure out how to use the Lurk’s skin right, but I’m satisfied with the results.”

“And the mask?” Sonya asked.

“Oh the mask is a modern marvel,” Amos grinned, sticking his nose into the air. “Probably the most advanced piece of headgear on the planet.”

“That’s quite a claim,” Sonya said, glancing at the door. She felt a bit of excitement this time. Amos was the type to gush, yes, but he didn’t make baseless claims. He considered himself to be a man of science after all.

He pressed his hand against the security panel and it flashed green, “Trust me, boss, it will live up to your name.”

Her eyebrows rose as her grin grew wider, he wasn’t talking about Sonya.

The door opened and inside was a moderately sized room big enough for wall equipment and several small test machines set out here and there. The contents of the room had to cost in the millions, if she had to guess. It was the garment laying in the center of the room that was far more impressive, though. A high-collar tactical jumpsuit made of a thick white fabric lay on a table, with it were a pair of white gloves, white tactical boots, and a jacket to go over it. She walked over and set her hand on the jumpsuit, admiring the design. It was simple but elegant with patterning in the fabric.

“It’s the damndest thing,” Amos said as he walked up next to her, “Even after I bleached the Lurk leather, it just refuses to reflect light normally. Out in broad daylight it’ll be pretty easy to see, but in the dark you might as well be wearing black.”

“Can you demonstrate?” She asked him. He nodded and walked over to the wall, hitting a lightswitch. The room was bathed in darkness for a moment before a beam of light erupted from his direction, he held the flashlight aloft, waving it around the room. She glanced down at the table and was stunned to see that she couldn’t discern between the darkness and the clothing itself. “You outdid yourself.”

He turned the light back on, “It’s made out of Lurk hide so it’ll handle pretty much anything conventional weapons can throw at you. I obviously couldn’t test it against a tank round, but we had a high-caliber armor piercing round go flat against it.”

She marveled, picking up the gloves, “And these?”

He stared at the gloves and then back at her, “Those were tricky, it’s hard to test them since I can’t analyze your power in any meaningful way, boss. But they’re ready to absorb all manner of electrical charges, they should, in theory, prevent someone from feeling the activation of your Broker ability.”

She rubbed the fabric between her fingers, this had been one of her biggest concerns. She’d been found out by Shark’s goons after using her power and quickly learned that making a deal with someone could be felt by the other party. That was something she had to mitigate if she was going to use it appropriately. It was the only reason she’d explained it all to Amos who’d readily agreed to a non-disclosure deal with her. She set the gloves down and turned back to him, “The mask?”

He beamed, “Ah yes, my pride and joy,” He said with a breath and walked over to one of the machines standing in the room. He tapped a few keys on a panel next to it and the machine hissed, opening to reveal a helmet.

The majority of the helmet was a sheer, glossy surface that somehow refused to reflect light. It looked like a computer screen for some reason. The ‘screen’ portion covered the entire face, leaving no eyeholes, and stopped at the crown of the head. Around the back of the head and along the sides of the face, a smooth, silvery metal gave it a curved, feminine form. It looked like the kind of helmet a sci-fi valkyrie would wear.

“Again, most of it was made out of lurk-tier materials. Lurk bone coated in a smattering of things, I won’t go into the details,” He said with a wave of his hand, “It can take a seven-six-five round at point blank range out of a high velocity sniper rifle. Hell, I even asked Marta to give it a good wallop,” He cleared his throat, “It does not absorb shock as well as I would like, but I can always improve on the design with better materials.”

“Functionality?” She asked.

“Whole faceplate is a functional screen, kept the way it shows your expression simple for now. It has an internal heads up display, face identification, voice commands, the voice modulator works like a charm just like the app I made for you, and it’ll filter out most toxins in the air,” He said proudly, putting his hands on his hips. “Eventually I want to connect it to our internal servers, but that’s still a work in progress.”

She picked the helmet up gingerly, admiring it with a wistful look in her eyes. This is what people would see when they met Ishtar. She glanced over at him and smiled, “I think… you’ve earned a reward, Amos,” She said and set the helmet down, walking over and picking up one of the new gloves, “Why don’t we try out these gloves, mm?”