Arcturus grabbed a chair and sat down; his full attention was on Hilbert. Constance sat down as well. Their attention was fully on Hilbert, who stood up and cleared his throat. With the confidence of a professional educator and the poise of a gentleman, he started his explanation:
“What are Monarch Shifties? Like how interracial marriages and families exist, Monarchs are like that. Their purple earrings show that they are a mixture of Combat and Support Shifties.
There are two other hybrid Shifties that exist too. There are those with orange earrings called Guardians as they have the qualities of both Combat and Ally Shifties with them being guardians for their masters of sorts; their devotion is on another level. Those with green earrings are Boosters. They have the qualities of Support and Ally Shifties, but a bit more advanced–they’re mainly used to be support for Monarchs and Guardians–to boost them in a sense.
They exist because they needed stronger Shifties in order to subdue Nova, but given that you two already defeated one, advancement is futile.”
Arcturus was amazed. The way Hilbert explained information was precise and his voice was articulate. It was as if he was listening to a lecture held by a renowned scholar. Hilbert’s serious voice sounded like music to his ears; though, he personally preferred Nova and Souhait’s voices more. However, there was one thing in his speech that stuck to him.
“If they need stronger Shifties to capture Nova, does that mean this is an Ilacian-only creation?”
Hilbert nods. “Their existence is a secret to the other nations for now. The mainland government approved the project as Ilacian Shifties are produced in Sirius–there’s a plant that doubles as a laboratory that creates and facilitates them.”
“It’s where I was born alongside my brother-bot.” Constance remarked.
“Brother-bot?”
“We were created at the same time, so we were deemed as siblings. I am his sister-bot. He is my brother-bot.”
The thought of Shifties having siblings never occurred to Arcturus. He wondered what having family felt like to them. Would they treasure it in their default state or would they appreciate it more if they developed free will?
“Where is this lab?” Arcturus asked out of curiosity.
“It’s near the Leonis manor.” Hilbert remarked.
Arcturus furrowed his eyebrows. He quickly realized he had never seen a map of Sirius before, so Hilbert’s answer caused him to draw a blank. “...and where is that?”
“Touch your bangle. I added a map feature for your free usage.”
Arcturus tinkered with his bangle. A hologram map of the entire city was shown. Hilbert showed off where the Outskirts were on the map; it was at the very easternmost part of the city and it was noticeable with a striking thick line dividing the bigger city from the Outskirts. What was next to the small amount of land was mainly water; he wondered if that’s how Murphy was able to fish despite being contained inside a dome.
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Hilbert then moved the red cursor to the bigger city and pointed to the centermost area. “This is the Leonis Manor; it is where Bellatrix Leonis resides. Not only is it her place of residence, it is also a place where political affairs happen. As you can see, it is heavily guarded by four circular buildings as well as walls. She is a highly paranoid person, hence why she barricades everything important to her. I’ll tell you what these circular buildings are.”
He moved the cursor to a circular area south of the manor. “This is the Media building. This is where all the news broadcasts and media outlets are broadcasted here in Sirius. The person in charge of this building is Ri Kuma.”
That name piqued Arcturus’s interest. “Ri, you say? And what do you mean by charge?”
“Other than Ri, there is another person in charge of the government alongside Bellatrix. In addition to them, the Lady Mayor appointed two more people to house the four buildings. They’re called the Briar Garden as they swear to protect Bellatrix from her adversaries. Ri is one of them alongside being her left hand.”
“Who are the other three?”
Hilbert pointed the cursor towards the western building. “This is the technology laboratory where all the technological items like phones, television, cars, airships and military weapons are created and distributed amongst the people here. The one in charge of this building is Stellar Alhague.”
“Alhague? As in the Ilacian royal family? Why would someone of such an esteemed family be out here in this isolated land?”
Hilbert raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know? The previous Lady Mayor Mebsuta was married to one of the Alhague family’s unwanted sons, making the Leonis family and the Alhague family unified by marriage.”
Arcturus was surprised. “I had no idea…” The Alhague family was practically royalty in the mainland Ilacier. The head of the country was the Matriarch and it was a position that would be passed to the most suitable daughter out of eight. The eight sisters were always a topic in the news for being the top of the field they specialized in. There was always gossip about which sister would be the next Matriarch and rise to prominence. He never heard much news about the youngest of the eight, Stellar, which he now knew about her whereabouts. The eight sisters had families of their own, making the entire Alhague family a topic of admiration and adoration for generations. However, he knew that the family preferred females over the male members as it was the norm in Ilacier for females to have more privilege and rights compared to their male counterparts. He wasn’t even aware that there were additional male members of the family until now.
Hilbert continued as he pointed towards the easternmost circle on the map, “The building on the east is in charge of everything related to health. The person who runs it is Cassandra Mathis. As you can tell by the surname, she is Belinda’s sister.”
“So, she was conspiring with her sister and the mayor to keep an eye on the people here. It now makes sense why she leaked Nova’s location to them.”
“Yes.” He then pointed to the final building, the northernmost circle. “This building is the Shiftie plant where Shifties are created and distributed. This is where Constance was born and raised until she was deemed useless and thrown away.”
“How cruel…”
“Such is the fate of Shifties who develop free will.” Constance muttered.
“So, who runs the place?” Arcturus asked.
Arcturus found it a bit odd that his question caused Hilbert to become startled. It was as if he wanted to avoid his question. “Who runs the place? Well…” He quickly glanced over at Constance before focusing back on Arcturus. “The person who runs the plant is Virgo Edwards.”
The name caused Arcturus’s eyes to widen and his mouth to gap. That name kept ringing in his ear to the point that he was worried about whether his ears had popped from gravity once again. He never met the person, but knew that name. Virgo Edwards was Sophia and Murphy’s daughter and now someone he has to protect Nova from.
Twenty years later and the daughter of the couple who have been so kind to Nova and me is our enemy. Such a cruel twist in fate.