It was a if simple bedroom, a single dresser sat almost precisely a meter away from an ultramodern-looking vanity. She g herself in the mirror, her hair was a mess and she had marks on her ned shoulders. She felt heat rise to her fad kept searg. There were two doors, ohat artially ajar and looked like it led into a bathroom. The other door was shut. Besides that, there was a sliding pahat probably opened into a walk-in closet, the bed beh 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 otress, it was so soft.
What the hell did I do st night? My head…
She tried to retrace everything, her eyes flig around. She spotted something sitting on the surfaext to her and turo it. A note underh the sleek arm 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 aing 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 exg 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 ned wao die, right then and there. She pulled the sheet over her head and hid underh the pillow behind her. “Oh no… what have I done?” She whiossing 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 ’t remember any of it. Why’d I drink so much?”
A knock came to the door, “Miss Summers?”
Mikay jumped, sitting up and fussing with her sheets until every inch was covered except her head, “M-Marta?”
“Good m, may I e in?” The maid asked.
Mikay 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 ined her head, “It’s a little before noon, Miss Summers. How are you feeling?”
Mikay looked down at herself, “Embarrassed, fused, scared?”
The woman nodded, “I uand, 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.”
Mikay 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 seo her. She barely khe woman and suddenly she invited her out to drinks and stood up for her. Oh my god, Ange! She had Ange kicked out of the club! Mikay 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, Mikay,” She said, gettitention, “I ot begin to expin to you what Miss ovna has on her mind, she is a… plicated woman. Has been ever since I met her years ago. She’s grown more so over the years. I ’t speak for her,” She said gently and sat up straight, looking towards the door. “What I say is that you, Miss Summers, are the master of yourself.”
Mikay stared at her, fused, “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 bees something else, that is all well and good but it does not o be plicated and you do not o 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 tinued, “She did indeed tact your boss this m 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.”
Mikay 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 o the overlook.”
The designer pressed her lips together and fought back the tears of gratitude. It felt strao feel a sense of positivity after everything, but she wouldn’t let it go. “Thank you.”
“You’re most wele.”
–
The research facility Sonya was standing in had at one point been structed by an AI Lab before it was bought out and solidated overseas. The gleaming hall she walked through was the height of ultramodern style mixed with the funality of a secure boratory. Despite the quality of the po one had wa. Most major pahat were doing researd 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 oing up a brand new b.
In short, the pce had e remarkably cheap.
Her heels clicked as she made her way down the hall, Amos o her, eagerly talking about his test 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 w why you were so careful about how much you told the gover about the parts of the monsters. I figured, the more you expihe more ined 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 pnned.”
Sonya smirked, she’d been ordered on more than one occasion to dismantle a aside the useful parts of a monster duriime as a field scout. Colleg materials was just part of her duties, so of course she knew what was valuable and what was garbage. He didn’t o know the real reason, though. “I’m gd 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 five 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 ughed 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, stig his o the air. “Probably the most advanced piece of headgear on the p.”
“That’s quite a cim,” Sonya said, gng at the door. She felt a bit of excitement this time. Amos was the type to gush, yes, but he didn’t make baseless cims. He sidered himself to be a man of sce after all.
He pressed his hand against the security panel and it fshed 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 maes set out here and there. The tents of the room had to cost in the millions, if she had to guess. It was the garment ying in the ter of the room that was far more impressive, though. A high-colr tactical jumpsuit made of a thick white fabric y on a table, with it were a pair of white gloves, white tactical boots, and a jacket to go over it. She walked over a her hand on the jumpsuit, admiring the design. It was simple but elegant with patterning in the fabric.
“It’s the damhing,” Amos said as he walked up o 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 bck.”
“ 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 dire, he held the fshlight aloft, waving it around the room. She gnced down at the table and was stuo see that she couldn’t dis between the darkness and the clothing itself. “You outdid yourself.”
He turhe light ba, “It’s made out of Lurk hide so it’ll handle pretty muything ventional ons throw at you. I obviously couldn’t test it against a tank round, but we had a high-caliber armor pierg round go ft against it.”
She marveled, pig 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 ’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 s. She’d been found out by Shark’s goons after using her power and quickly learhat 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 expi all to Amos who’d readily agreed to a non-disclosure deal with her. She set the gloves down and turned ba, “The mask?”
He beamed, “Ah yes, my pride and joy,” He said with a breath and walked over to one of the maes standing in the room. He tapped a few keys on a panel o it and the mae 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 puter s for some reason. The ‘s’ portion covered the entire face, leaving no eyeholes, and stopped at the 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 take a seven-six-five round at point bnk ra of a high velocity sniper rifle. Hell, I even asked Marta to give it a good ,” He cleared his throat, “It does not absorb shock as well as I would like, but I always improve on the design with better materials.”
“Funality?” She asked.
“Whole facepte is a funal s, kept the way it shows your expression simple for now. It has an internal heads up dispy, face identification, voiands, the voice modutor 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 ect 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 eople would see when they met Ishtar. She gnced over at him and smiled, “I think… you’ve earned a reward, Amos,” She said ahe helmet down, walking over and pig up one of the new gloves, “Why don’t we try out these gloves, mm?”