Location: Outside

Time: Wednesday Morning

  Sara had a new job. Sara was going to steal the princess. No. Not a princess. Hatta said this city doesn’t have royalty, so she’s not a princess. She’s the Oldridge girl. Was supposed to be an easy job. The girl was at school, and Sara was told the bodyguard was sent away.

  And can you believe it? The bodyguard was sparky. The little one.

  The school was. . . Sara didn’t know where it was, but that was no problem. Sara knew she’d find it, because she wanted to find it.

  As Sara wandered down the sidewalk all the people ignored Sara. Being ignored is bad, but it had to be that way. That’s why Sara was sent on this mission. It’s easy for Sara to make people not pay attention. What are the odds you don’t notice a stranger?

  Easily manipulatable.

  Walking alone. Unnoticed. Sara had time to think. Time and Reason. Recent days, in the new city, gave Sara lots to think about.

  Two failures. Messed up jobs. They definitely weren’t Sara’s fault, but they still happened. Something was terribly wrong with everything. If Sara remembered how to regret Sara might have felt that way about showing up.

  No. Not possible. Sara couldn’t possibly overlook finding Sara’s wife. That made everything else worth it.

  Sara’s wife was more important than anything other than Sara.

 Sara can’t be hurt. For years, Sara couldn’t reclaim the feeling from before. From before Sara’s augmentation activated. Back then, Sara felt it. Hurt, pain, discomfort. Nothing but despair. Sara was no better than a barefoot girl in a cold alley, lighting matches to keep warm.

  At least that girl could see visions of a better life.

  Sara would spend the days waiting outside the shops, hoping they would throw out the old bread that didn’t sell. Then at night, Sara would pass the time by crying. Crying until the older women calmed Sara down. After a few weeks most people gave up and lost the ability to cry, but Sara never did.

  Then the accidents started. First it was the strangers who were mean to Sara, then it was anyone who harassed the people like Sara. Eventually it would happen to anyone Sara heard someone talk bad about. It even reached the point where it would happen just because someone didn’t give Sara enough charity.

  All dead, all accidents.

  Anytime something bad was about to happen to Sara even more accidents would happen.

  That’s when Sara was taken away. Taken for trials. New medicine to make even less bad things happen to Sara. To make Sara’s augmentation stronger. Things worked. The medicine worked too well for Sara. Doctors were surprised, couldn’t understand why the medicine worked so well for Sara.

  Why couldn’t they understand? Of course it was going to work perfectly for Sara. The more medicine Sara got the more perfectly Sara made the medicine work. Didn’t take long for the medicine to reach its theoretical maxim effectiveness.

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  Not theoretical anymore. Right? Right.

  No more bad things could happen. Everyone said Sara was a great success. Obviously. Sara forgot how to understand failure.

  Pain went away for good. Sara started to miss it.

  Until then. Sara’s wife reminded Sara. Pain. Without any pain the pleasure was meaningless. Sara spent a decade feeling pleasure Sara couldn’t understand. Sara’s wife reset the balance. Returned to scale to normal.

  Every pastry tastes better if there could have been a nail in it.

  That’s love. Sara’s wife delivered love.

  The little sparky one wasn’t love. She tricked Sara and was even trying to kill Sara.

  The big sparky one wasn’t love either. That was fear. Sara doesn’t want to think about him.

  Fear was a feeling Sara hadn't felt in a long time as well, but it wasn’t as nice as pain.

  Sara couldn’t enjoy any pastries if Sara was worried there might be a nail in it.

  As Sara was thinking a gate appeared in front of her. It was closed, but unlocked. Sara pushed the gate open and walked through.

  Inside of the gated area there were lots of people. Mostly teens, all wearing the same clothes.

  “Ah, this is a school, right? Right.”

  Sara looked around and noticed some words on a building.

  ‘Evergreen Academy: Where bright minds flourish year round.’

  “Yup. Sara found it while thinking. Now Sara just needs to run into the princess, no, not princess. Sara needs to run into the Oldridge girl.”

  As Sara was saying the words someone bumped into Sara’s back. It seemed like the Oldridge girl ran into Sara instead.

  Sara swung around and hit the girl in the head. She fell down, unconscious.

  Sara couldn’t remember what the Oldridge girl was supposed to look like, but if Sara wanted the Oldridge girl Sara was certain to get the Oldridge girl.

  Hmm?

  How was Sara supposed to move the unconscious body?

  Sara wasn’t interested in manual labor.

  “What is this? Why am I seeing this happen?”

  A new girl was questioning Sara. How? No one should have been able to notice Sara. Sara wasn’t planning on interacting with anyone.

  “Hey, this is completely abnormal. Not normal in the slightest. What are you doing, and why isn’t anyone noticing you?” Rather than concerned or confused, the new girl sounded annoyed.

  Bad. Opposite of good. The girl was causing a scene. The people couldn’t notice Sara, but they could notice the girl yelling at Sara. There’s only so much people are willing to overlook.

  “Okay.”

  Sara turned to face the girl. Sara also pulled a toy from her pocket. A toy that looks like a gun.

  “Stop saying words. Pick up the princess, and follow Sara. If you don’t, Sara will do something.”

  “You’ll shoot me?”

  The girl didn’t seem intimidated. New plan.

  “No.” Sara aimed her toy at the unconscious one. “I’ll shoot her.”

  The new girl let out a sigh.

  “Fine, fine. Of course this kind of thing would happen when she’s not here. I’ll do her a favor and play along. This is completely abnormal, but fine.”

  The new girl showcased an unnatural strength as she easily hoisted the princess onto her shoulder.

  Good. Of course Sara would run into someone strong enough to carry the body.

  Rather than panic, Sara decided to take the new girl hostage as well. Sara is a professional after all. Sara never had to deal with solving problems before, but Sara knew that threatening violence solves most problems.