Gen’s new room was far larger than expected, and it was oddly prepared for her. It wasn’t odd that it was prepared, but why did everything match her interests? Posters of various flying vehicles covered one wall--the same wall that had a door leading to Aether’s room, possibly for bodyguard purposes. There was also a bookshelf filled with gun models and theory books pertaining to energy and aura. It stood beside the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony potted with spider lilies.
Gen brushed her fingers over one of the wooden shelves.
No dust. And everything looked new as if someone had recently unpacked each item from a box.
Gen glanced at her king-sized bed. Its stark-black bed sheets called to her, and oh, how she wanted to dive onto it then fiddle with her phone.
But, there was a lot to sort out before she executed her Dessy scheme and broke Aether’s heart. She swept her eyes around the room for a second time, scanning for hidden cameras. She entered her bathroom--which was obnoxiously large with a whirlpool bath, a shower, and a sauna--and then entered her walk-in closet.
Just as large as the former, the closet was filled to the brim with men’s clothes her size. It was also old-school, having no machines and robots to help her grab certain outfits. A plain, energy-efficient closet. Just how she liked it.
She would be comfortable living here, she thought to herself. She especially loved how Aether’s mansion didn’t have any droids and pestering AIs. Pure old manpower, like the times before the Dark Era.
Her blood suddenly boiled, and she whipped out her phone. She clenched it tightly so that she wouldn’t drop it due to excessive excitement.
She messaged Mind.
Gen: I’m dressing as Dessy! Help pls?
She received a response within seconds.
Mind: Evergreen City, Newton District, 9334 Gun Str, Apt. 123-194, Passcode 123456789
It was the location of her alter ego’s new living quarters in addition to the passcode for entry. As for why a super-hacker would use such a poor passcode, Gen had no idea. She, as a good sister, accepted the fact that not everything Mind did was smart.
Gen rubbed her chin. What about herself?
Exceedingly daring, she had agreed to stay by Aether’s side as an aura knight. It was a matter of time before she met his cousin, Prince Janus Puresoul, who had a slim chance of recognizing her.
The risk, no matter how small and no matter how dangerous, excited her. So did the notion of seducing the galaxy’s number one hottie.
She sent a message to Aether, meaning to both test the trustworthiness of her boss and to help hide her true identity of Gender Bender.
Gen: Don’t tell anyone about my aura break
His reply came quick.
Jerky: Ok.
Gen: And don’t tell them my sex. Order the others to keep it a secret, pls. Fenri, Drake, Joule, and Reya. Don’t forget.
Jerky: Ok.
Gen: Dessy will meet you tonight
Jerky: Ok.
She raised a brow at his constant reply of “ok.” Then, with a large grin, she typed what she thought was a cunning message.
Gen: Marry me?
Jerky: Ok.
Gen: That was a joke.
Jerky: Ok.
Gen: You know, there’s more replies than ok.
Jerky: Okay.
She laughed and grabbed the sofa for support. Shaking her head at Aether and his lacking social skills, she sat and texted Mind.
Gen: How much did the apartment cost? And when did I supposedly move in?
Mind: You may be poor, but I am rich. Let me pay. You moved in three years ago, and you work as a personal tutor at the neighboring school. You also...
The message rambled for another hundred words or so. Gen skimmed it, but the phrases ingrained themselves into her mind as if she had studied them for hours.
Gen: Will you cover for my male identity or do I need to make myself an alibi? I don’t want a repeat of last year.
Mind: I’ve got you covered. I also sent you a dress and the usual supplies. Makeup, phone, extra vehicle, you name it. It’s there ^-^
Gen: Thanks, you’re the best! Is the dress good? It must be comfortable with a matching pair of low heels. NO HIGH HEELS. NO STILETTOS. NO PUMPS!
Mind: I <3 you.
Her brows crinkled. That dreaded “I <3 you.” What did Mind do? If he bought her the worst possible shoes, platform boots, he would soon need a new pair of teeth.
Gen’s thumbs twiddled, writing then deleting then rewriting then deleting. She groaned. She didn’t want to know what horrors Mind had prepared for her. She didn’t have enough money to buy herself a dress fit for a prince’s date, either; she had spent every last cent on her Former Sexy.
“To hell with it,” she said.
She closed her eyes and held her phone away from her body, treating it like an explosive. Her thumb pressed enter, sending it to Aether. Gotta milk him for all it’s worth!
Gen: Do you have formal attire for my sister?
Ding!
Jerky: No.
Gen furiously tapped as she grumbled. “Seriously, playboy? You were the one asking for the date...can’t even supply a dress...”
Gen: What about nice flats or low heels? Her shoe size is about the same as mine.
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Jerky: No.
Gen: If she doesn’t have a proper outfit, she won’t be able to be your date.
Jerky: Okay. You’ll be my date.
This again, she rolled her eyes.
Gen: Can’t. Don’t have a dress.
Her phone dinged, receiving a few pictures of an off-the-shoulder, black and green ombre dress. It had a short length, but many long layers of fabric were attached to its waist and created a secondary skirt. This skirt flowed to the ground, creating an overall high-low dress bearing multiple ruffles.
Gen would call it neither elegant nor gaudy. Maybe a bit playful and young because it had a certain “poof” to it.
Convenient. That’s what it was. If she had to flee, she could tear of its skirt; and before then, she could hide weapons within its fabric. All she needed was a pair of low heels that wouldn’t get stuck in the holes of metal skywalks. Then, she would happily wear the outfit without killing her soul.
Ding!
A pair of high boots. She cocked her head, unable to imagine whether or not they fit the dress. They did look comfortable, but if it was too casual or ugly, how would she seduce him? And this was a formal event; boots didn’t seem appropriate.
Gen weighed the pros and cons. Overall, it was better to wear the outfit than to place blind trust in Mind.
Gen: Perfect! Dessy can wear it.
Jerky: No.
Gen: ???
Jerky: The dog ate it.
She dropped the phone, and her thoughts swirled. Jerky was Aether, right? Or was it somebody else? With her shoe she poked her phone, as if to see if the device existed and she wasn’t dreaming. The immature message was bright and clear. Lifting the phone with shaky hands, she slowly typed a message.
Gen: Mind?
Jerky: ?
She let out a long sigh; Mind would have replied with “I <3 you” or something equally troubling. It was Aether and his usual jerk self. He wouldn’t let her feminine alter ego, Dessy, touch the dress because he had found Dessy merely decent. How shallow. He better watch out.
Gen stretched her neck, popping it. When had she ever failed crushing hearts while wearing a skirt?
“I’ll have you begging for Dessy’s love.” She smirked then departed the mansion to fulfill her plans.
——————
Evergreen city was far from green. Like most large cities it suffered from overpopulation, rusty docks, and a high shadowline. The surveillance drones and the delivery droids were both painted green, lending the city awkward splashes of color as they flew between the many high-rises.
The apartment complex rested near the city’s center, just as Gen preferred. It provided her extra convenience when she needed to swap her identity and appear elsewhere. The neighboring skyscrapers also afforded her cover in the rare likelihood she had to flee assassins. Hiding within the city was much better than altogether fleeing it. Nothing was worse than driving above a large patty field of artificially grown meat. The dodged bullets would spray fountains of fleshy juice and wreck her baby’s paint.
Arriving at her destination, Gen docked her vehicle on the 123rd floor--the same floor as her apartment. Her lips peeled into an awkward smile. She was happy Mind chose a floor with a dock, but she was also concerned for his conscientious actions.
She winced as she entered her studio. Mind had prepared it well. Too well.
A bed--queen-size with disastrously pink bedding--rested in one corner while a meticulously placed coffee table stood beside it. There was enough space to walk, but not too much so as to clutter the rest of the room. A matching pink dresser lined the wall beneath the window, and in the corner opposite it and the bed was the kitchen. Knick-knacks of all kinds lent coziness to the room--mostly in shades of reds and pinks.
Very worrisome. Gen pushed her sideburns behind her ears. Why had Mind prepared the room so well? Did he expect people to visit her? Or was he competing with Aether?
Beeeeep! Beep!
A mail delivery droid appeared at the far end of the window. It swayed from side to side, creating small circles of light so that its movements attracted the human eye.
“Room, answer it,” Gen said. A portion of the glass vanished, allowing the small, humanoid droid to enter.
The droid wore a small hat whose top resembled the wings of an antiquated vehicle called a helicopter. As its hat swirled, its red eyes scanned her. “Unidentified.”
It began scanning her again. Fail. The droid cocked its head then looked around the room. It asked, “Who are you? A guest? Where is Dessy?”
“Stupid AI.” Gen grabbed it by its head and carried it to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and retrieved Dessy’s wrist watch, which Mind had always placed in the top drawer. She then pressed the watch’s leftmost edge against the droid’s chest.
“A wrist watch? I will begin fallback scan,” the droid said. “Descending Rook identified. Delivering message: ‘Hey sis, here’s your dress and shoes. Kick bootie. Love, Mind Bender.’ End message. I will now tell the carrier to enter.”
A large droid flew up to the window then entered the room, carrying a large package. It plopped the box onto the coffee table. The small delivery droid jumped onto its head, and the pair departed. “Have a nice day!” they said in unison as the apartment closed the glass.
Gen sighed. An example of why they had to flee so often: Mind had labeled the package with his own name, not the alias Ascending Rook. She sent him a warning text before retrieving a knife. She tore open the package.
It was a dress. A very familiar dress.
She narrowed her eyes then checked her phone. It was the same dress as the ones in Aether’s pictures, but instead of green, it was red. The black flowed nicely into it, far better than it had with the green. There were also faint traces of orange and yellows, as if to give the dress an extra flare.
Like the other version it wasn’t particularly elegant, but it was sexy. Playful and sexy, but not slutty. It was perfect, Gen thought.
And the heels?
Stilettos.
Gen: Mind!!! I’m gonna kill you!
Mind: RIP me. Check them Wink [https://www.royalroadcdn.com/public/smilies/wink.png]
“Check them?” Gen held them within her hands. As her fingers slid over the shoes’ heels, her skin tingled and her eyes widened. Aura resonance. They were weapons: beautiful, sexy stiletto daggers for her feet.
But how was this possible? She would have known if someone had completed the research and technology to make such a small aura weapon. Aura gauntlets were more than ten times the size of the shoe’s heel, and gauntlets were believed to be the epitome of aura weapons. It was difficult to make them any more compacted.
A prototype maybe? Or the heels had some stability issues? They better not break.
Gen quickly slipped them on, forgetting she hated high heels. Lifting a leg, she exerted aura into them. A stiletto, twelve centimeters long and akin to an energy blade, materialized now that it had a source of energy.
Gen twisted her body, pivoting as she swung her leg and slashed at the empty box. It sliced in half, and she gave it her judgment.
Weaker than gauntlets and far more fragile. But, sharp. Ridiculously sharp.
She then tested the penetration power by deactivating the blade, stepping onto the coffee table, and reactivating it. The formless stiletto blade pierced through the wood without cracking it. She sensed the blade had done so with more ease than it had slicing the box.
Impressive, and a very fast activation speed. It seemed the hidden dagger was built for stabbing but could handle slicing. That was under the condition the material was soft. She nodded at her feet.
“Nice, very nice. You shall be True Stiletto L and you True Stiletto R. Together you are True Stilettos.” As a sign of approval, she bestowed them horrible names. And excited to show off her heels, she stripped herself and donned the dress. She wore her long, black wig. Midway through her makeup, she froze.
Wait a moment... If there was nothing horribly wrong with the outfit, why were there so many horror signs?
Gen: What did you do?
Mind: I <3 you
There it was again! She pursed her lips. He better not be building a bot army of refrigerators and coffee makers. He was up to no good; Gen was sure of it.
Distressed, she paced around her room. With each stride her True Stilettos clinked against the metallic floor. The sound rang throughout the room, stirring her emotions.
This was the sound of power, she thought. Of an unstoppable weapon marching through the hearts of men. She began swaying her hips and moving her body in the ways she thought made Dessy a mature, attractive woman. She rested one hand on her hip, and she held her chin high. A light, teasing smile surfaced on her lips.
Descending Rook. A mature, refined woman who knew how to act coy and incite a man’s urge to protect her.
Soon it would be time for the gala, and Aether would meet his doom.
Gen took one last glance in the mirror and stroked her body, feeling her own natural curves. She had a knack for changing her appearance, and it always surprised her how different she looked.
She touched her bottom lip then leaned into her reflection.
“A woman of a million guises. That could be you,” she whispered. It was from an old memory, so distant it no longer separated itself from unclear dreams.