I groan as I stepped into the elevator. Why my family likes to have these weird meetings every month is beyond me. I feel that, in most cases, it is just an opportunity for everyone to boast about their accomplishments. I really wish I did not have to go. Today is my first date with Claire, better known as Liquid Catalyst, probably the cutest samurai in existence, and I have a date. It is just a simple home date. We both did not want any media coverage, but it is a great opportunity, and it is the first time I will host guests in my new house; I am so excited.
I enter the boardroom, and most of my family is already there waiting. I wave at Edward as I take my seat and wait for this waste of time to start. In the meantime, I pop open some of the samurai gossip websites to see if I have missed any of Claire’s dislikes. Can't make a fool of myself just yet.
The meeting drones on, and I give my presentation without any issues when it is my turn. Evelin was right. Sam is amazing at her job; she made the entire presentation in just a day. I wonder if next time I can just send her as my representative. On top of being a great assistant, she also has a lot of insight into Evelin’s behaviour.
“Cierra, there is one thing we still need to discuss.” My mom says when everyone has done their part.
“Oh, what is left to discuss?” I ask, a bit confused by the situation.
“Well, you keep blowing off my attempts to find you a fiancé, so I took the effort to set up a date for you tomorrow.” my mom says with a smile.
I narrow my eyes at her “Don’t need it. Evelin and I are back together, so if I am going to be marrying anyone, it is going to be her.” I say, trying to keep my voice stern.
“That low-life hussie is no good for you. She is rude and brutish.” she says.
“I don’t care. I actually like her, and she makes me happy, so you have no right to interfere.” I say with a lot more volume this time.
“I just want what is good for you. Please just meet them. I made sure they are a girl this time.” Mom pleads with me.
“No, Mother, I won’t. I have no interest in them. I'd rather spend my time doing something fun.”
“Cierra, you listen here…”
“Mother, if I may interrupt,” Gerard says, “My fiancé, Nina, has informed me that Evelin has died. So setting up a date so soon is not a good idea.”
I freeze as a cold spike pierces my heart. I look at Edward as I open my phone app and call her. I wait, but the connection never goes through. I look at Edward more pleading this time.
“I…I can’t reach her team, all of them have disappeared.” he finally says.
I fall back into my seat, exhausted. Gone, she is just gone like that. How? Why? I look back at Gerard and see his smug smile, and it disgusts me. I feel myself get angry, but there is nothing I can do. I am powerless; I can’t do anything at all. Why did this have to happen? I stand up.
“Cierra dear, where are you going?” Mother asks.
I stop at the door and turn around. “I wish you all were dead instead of her.” I close the door and head back to the car. I don’t want to be here anymore, not ever again. The next few minutes are kind of a blur. Anika drives me home to my apartment, and I just numbly head to bed.
As I jump into bed, I dive under the covers. That is where I let out all the pain and anger. I hate this. Why am I not allowed to be happy? Why did it have to be her? I don’t know how long I stay like that, but suddenly, I feel a hand stroke my head. I look up, expecting to see Anika, but what I see instead is Claire’s concerned face. She walked in without me noticing and sat down on the bed.
“Are you okay?” she asks me.
“No,” I say as I wrap my arms around her.
“What happened?” she asks, as she keeps stroking my head.
“They killed her, and it is all my fault. I don't even know what I am supposed to do anymore.” I say while bawling into her.
“Who did they kill?” Claire asks, even more concerned now.
“Evelin!” I choke out.
I feel her entire body tense up. It stays quiet for a few minutes before she speaks again. “How do you know?”
“They told me that she is dead, and I can’t reach her at all.”
“So, there is no body then, that is good.”
“How can that be good”
“Because Evelin is stupidly hard to kill,”, she says. When I give her a confused look, she continues, “I made sure of that.”
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I let a small sliver of hope come back “If she is not dead, then where is she?”
“I don’t know, but she might have gone dark. The last message she sent me was a lot of data about stolen samurai tech, including mind-control technology and genetic manipulation.”
“That sounds bad, I think.”
“it is not good, that is for sure, but she probably disappeared trying to find more information, ” Claire says with a smile.
“Okay, so what should we do?”
“I will go to her last known location and see if I can find her. You should probably distance yourself, and your assets, from New Hope, if you want to keep them."
I shuddered. There was no warmth in her voice, but I did not care anymore. If they wanted to take away my happiness, then I should not care for them either.
“Okay, I will do that. Are you sure she is still alive?” I ask again.
“Yeah, I mean, that is another reason. Maybe she is just hiding because someone tried to kill her.”
It took a long month of work, but I finely succeeded in creating my own company, a direct competition to New Hope,
I pace around in my new office, waiting for my guest to arrive. Someone knocks on the door before opening it. A woman with a purple hoody and a white mask walks in. She sits on one of my couches and removes her mask, making the hoody disappear. Revealing a muscular Asian woman.
“Did you find anything?” I ask Yun Min.
“We found what should be the last supply of mind control chips. It was guarded by a samurai-grade laser turret, so that was fun.”
“Is anyone injured? Where is Claire?” I ask, getting concerned.
“Claire is fine. Daisy took a bad hit, so Claire is taking her to surgery, but she should make it.”
I take a sigh of relief. That is good. I really came to like the big dopey hyena over the last month. The thing somehow knows how to operate the elevator, and I found her more than once in my bed when I woke up.
“Still no sign of Evelin?” I ask, hoping for some good news.
“Not even a whisper. It’s like she has just disappeared off the face of the earth,” Yun Min says while shaking her head.
“Where could she have gone off to?” I say to myself. The longer she has no communication, the more I feel like she will never return.
“I don’t know, but if she wants to hide, there is no way for us to really find her.”
“But why would she keep hidden?”
Yun Min looks at me. “I am not sure if I am supposed to tell you this, but some people believed that she was struggling with some kind of multiple personality disorder.”
“Okay, so what does that mean?” I ask, a bit confused. Sam had already talked about the possibility, so it did seem probable.
“Maybe whatever your family tried to do made it worse, and she split into a personality that does not remember any of us.”
“So, it’s still my fault.” I say, dejected.
She looks up at me, staring at me straight. “It’s not your fault. It is the fault of your awful family. How are you doing on that front? Still kicking their asses?”
“I stole most of the clients I could get ahold of and poached most of the competent staff, but that is all I can do now. So they are in trouble but will most likely recover.”
“It's a good start, at least. Are you holding up okay?”
“Sam told you about my breakdown yesterday, huh?”
“Yes, well, we do share a room and all.” Yun Min says while blushing.
“Right, just sharing one, right,” I say with a smile. “You know you are way less scary than the media would have you believe.”
“Scary? people think I am scary?” She asks, confused.
“Well, you know your whole Maniac persona and all of that.”
“I am not Maniac; Maniac gave me this mask to pretend to be her, making it more difficult to guess who the real Maniac is.”
I nod. “That is smart. Then who is the real Maniac?”
She gives me an intense look. “I am not allowed to say who she is.”
“Wait, is she secretly a man? That would be brilliant! Put on the mask and be this crazy girl, then take it off and be a man. No one would expect that.”
Yun Min starts to laugh, and I think I can even hear Anika laugh as well. “That is a fun idea, but no.” Yun Min says.
“It was a good attempt, I guess,” I say with a shrug. “so what do we do now, then?”
“Claire asked me to take you home, so the two of you could hang out.”
“I see. Well, let's go then.” I say with a smile.
We go down, and I get into one of the PsyCo cars. They kind of look like normal cars from the outside, but on the inside, they have a crazy amount of tech and weapons that make you think you're about to go to war. We drive straight into the parking lot, and we head out. Yun Min and Anika get out on the hotel floor while I take the elevator all the way to the penthouse.
Once I get home, I smile as I get a whiff of melted cheese and tomatoes. I take a look in the kitchen, but the only thing that is there is the oven that is baking the pizza. I started to look around more and find Claire in the study. She looks up from her work and smiles at me.
“Hey, are you doing better today?”
“Yeah, I am doing better. How about you?”
“I don’t know. Silver Scorpion and Magenta are currently in Zürich looking for Evelin but still haven’t found a single trace whatsoever. I am starting to worry now.”
I walk up to her and hug her. “Yeah, me too.”
“I just still believe she is alive. She survived so many crazy things, so I almost can’t believe that something would happen, but with all the rogue Samurai gear we keep finding, I am no longer so sure.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know either.” I say through my choked tears. “You did not find anything on Nina’s computer either?”
“We have looked at that thing from back to front. The only connection is someone named Micheal, but he has also disappeared.”
“I see, then I don’t know anymore. I don’t know how strong Evelin is, but I just don’t believe she is alive anymore.”
Claire turns around and presses her lips against mine. “She is alright, I know it.”
Suddenly, a call comes through on Claire’s laptop, and she opens it. Magenta's face appears on the screen, and the cyborg is in the background.
“Good, you're here too, Cierra,” Magenta says.
“Hey, did you find her?” Claire asks.
“Not exactly. We found some of her equipment on the black market, but it is all badly damaged,” she says in a grave tone.
“How badly damaged?”
“They were covered in blood and bits that got stuck between the plating. DNA analysis says it belongs to Evelin. Tissue sample indicates that it is her eye.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“Best case scenario, somebody stabbed her eyes out,” Magenta says, while looking down.
I did not need to ask what the worst case scenario would be; I did not want to know.
“Please keep looking until you find her.” I hear Claire say, in a voice that makes her seem so small.
I was not feeling particularly good either, but I wrapped my arms around her, trying to give her at least some warmth.
“I will do my best until I find her.” Magenta says, “Please take care of everyone.”
Then she leaves the call, leaving the room silent. We stay quiet for a while, just holding each other tight, doing our best not to think of the possible ramifications.
“She will be fine.” Claire finally says.
“I wish I could believe that with all my heart.”