Ishtar stood in front of the s, her mask strangely not refleg the glowing surface, even in the dark. The call she was making was a long time ing, she hadn’t had enough time to che and it was better te than he room, a small office adjat to her bedroom in the apartment, was kept iionally sparse in order to make it difficult to tell where she was. Maybe it was her lifestyle in her past life, stantly going from one pce from another and living a near-military life, but she’d never been one for decorations in her workspace. Affluend dece were for leisure areas, distras were not permitted when she was w.
The s flickered ond a familiar face appeared. The pretty face of Bera Lucci looking more than a little nervous as she returned Ishtar’s gaze for a heartbeat before ining her head and pg her hand over her heart.
“Mistress Ishtar,” The womaed, “I’ve been looking forward to hearing from you.”
“Bera,” Ishtar said, “How are you?”
The woman looked surprised by the pleasantry but quickly recovered, her expression steeling, “Things are progressing well, I-”
Ishtar held up her hand, “I asked how you are, Bera, we’ll get to that.”
The woman frowned, puzzled, Ishtar could uand how perplexed she was. Ishtar wasly a person eared to enjoy pleasantries or care in any way about the personal well being of those beh her. She sidered for a moment before letting out a breath and appearing to make some kind of decision, “You have given me quite the task, Mistress. I have a lot to do, but I am taking care of myself. I am in good health, though.”
Ishtar supposed that was good enough, “I’ll have to properly reward you for your efforts, Bera. I look after my own, be sure to take breaks now and then and enjoy the fruits of your bor. You’re no good to me if you are burned out.”
The woman looked taken aback yet again and blinked a few times before easing into a far more rexed posture, a smile even crossing her features and a sparkle ing to her eyes. “I… thank you, Mistress. I won’t fet you said that.”
Ishtar ined her head, “Your progress?”
The woman nodded, more rexed now, “Fortunately I’ve had only a little trouble corralling the members of the club, some of them seemed less than ied in holding up their end of the bargain but it was nothing I couldn’t hah a little pressure from the other members. Those two agents you gifted me have also been serving their purpose quite nicely.”
“Verde and Veloo trouble with them?” Ishtar asked with a nod.
“ all, they obey without question, I’d like to have more like them at my disposal,” Bera chuckled.
“Do some window shopping, then,” Ishtar said casually, “If there are any unlised light-touched you think are worth taking in, I’ll give you a hand.”
The woman blinked again, endlessly surprised it seemed, and nodded, “Thank you for your support, mistress, I’ll e up with a list.”
“Good, now I have something for you t to the club,” Ishtar began, finally getting down to business.
“I’m all ears,” Bera said.
What followed was a full overview of dungeons, and not just the bare bones information that Amos had. She divulged everything from the value of dungeons to the trick of not destroying the boss in order to turn them into an endless source of profit and materials. She expined how they worked, what caused them to burst, and the sequeherein. She even gave a rough timetable of which European dungeons would be the first to bee problematic. She did not expin how she knew any of this, though.
Bera rubbed her , “We’ll hese radars as soon as possible,” She said.
“I have about a hundred ready,” Ishtar said, “I’ve already sent you a portion, they should arrive in a few days. Make sure they’re set up at the locations on the dot that es with them,” Ishtar added, getting a nod from the woman. “Now es the more important part of this versation.”
The woman tilted her head and Ishtar eborated, “The club will o operate ily through their guilds. The heroes need experiend dungeons are an easy way to foster that, make sure to ence petitioween the various guilds but keep it friendly. I will not tolerate uhy rivalries.”
“Is there a reason we are not using privately tracted light-touched, ma’am?” Bera asked after a moment of thought. “Lised heroes are not beholden to their sponsors. They could take the resources for themselves.”
“They have a right to the treasures within the dungeons that they engage in,” Ishtar said with a nod, “But the average hero has no use for the material goods within. They attempt to sell it, but I doubt they’ll find much success without going through illegal els which will be problematic for individuals under a great deal of public scrutiny.”
“But not impossible,” Bera said with a nod, “It would be easier for them to allow us to send io retrieve resources behind them and give them a cut, saving them time and effort.”
“Gd you cat,” Ishtar said with a nod, “Yes. As for the tracts they are currently under, I will be personally writing up new tracts to feature this cuse and sending them to you for your use. They will be far more… binding than a traditional tract for both sides. Cheating the heroes is a good way t potentially insurmountable problems that her of us want to deal with.”
The woman mulled it over before nodding again, “As you say. I’ll rey all of this to the club and we’ll take steps, when should we act?”
“Prepare for now, make sure all of our bases are covered. Information on the dungeons will go public soon and then we act without too much suspi,” Ishtar said, “No earlier though.”
“I uand, we’ll stay above board as much as possible, mistress,” Bera agreed, clearly uanding her meaning. The more legal they appeared, the more trol they would have over the narrative and the public perception of what they were doing. More importantly, the less trouble it would cause for Sonya.
Ishtar paused. When did I start thinking of Sonya as a separate person? Odd. She rephrased the statement in her mind. The less trouble it would cause me. She mentally reaffirmed that. I am Sonya but also Ishtar.
Bera seemed to notice Ishtar’s momentary pause and tilted her head, “Is there something else, Mistress?”
Ishtar blinked behind her mask and quickly recovered, grasping abruptly at the first thing that came to mind in order to cover her s about her owal health. It obviously couldn’t be a lie, so it had to be something that was truly on her mind. “I was curious about how that girl was doing, the one Sonya gave to you,” She said.
Her agent in Europe smiled at the question, “It’s kind of you to ask after her, she’s remarkable, I had seen a bit of her talent when she visited with me during your visit, but now she has flourished. Araordinary young woman, I’m gd that Miss ovna brought her to me. She has experimented a bit with hero es retly after Hero Day.”
Ishtar felt a bit of tension in her chest release and she nodded, “I’ll send some monster-based textiles to you for her to py with, perhaps she e up with some examples?”
Bera grew even brighter, “My, that’s not a bad idea. I wouldn’t mind styling her as a designer of hero gear. Being one of the first could e with a great deal of prestige.”
Ishtar couldn’t restrain the smile behind her mask, name brand hero es were quite popur in the previous timeline and the more famous designers held a great deal of clout. Stylish and funal e designs that became even more extraordinary as humanity learo use cores and mana crystals to infuse unique properties into materials. She’d have to get Mikay and Amos to exge some point. “Go with that route,” She said finally.
“It’ll be done, Mistress,” Bera said with a slight bow before straightening, “Will that be all?”
“Yes, keep up the good work,” Ishtar said and with a wave of her hand, she cut the e.
She tore off her helmet and took a breath, looking down at it, her chest heaving. What the hell was that earlier? She thought, runnihumb over the surface, the eerie eyes made of individual LEDs gleaming a bit brighter ied refle of her own glowing eyes. She moved back to her desk and sat down, leaning bad examining the helmet. She let out a sigh ahe helmet aside, resting her head in her hands. Even with her eyes closed, her HUD still dispyed that her body was in peak physical dition.
Nothing about my mind, though, huh? She thought with amusement. Nothing I do. Keep going.
She sat up aed her head on the back of the chair. “I need a soda.”
–
Marta stood at the door for a few moments, just watg her. Sonya had fallen asleep at her desk, again, her head tilted fainst her palm and her hair spyed about. Her helmet was sitting right o her, carelessly out in the open. She shook her head and walked over, pig up the helmet and looking down at the sleek bck surface before looking over at Sonya. She walked over to the cubby where Sonya kept the helmet hidden and popped it open, slipping it inside before shutting it.
She returo her friend’s side. Sonya’s eyes were sunken, her limbs thin, her fingers looked worn, every bit of her looked hollow in this brief moment of defenselessness. For just a moment, Marta saw the young woman she had been g for before the fsh. A woman who assionate, fun, pyful, but ultimately beaten down by what had happeo her. Sonya had rarely left the house ao herself most days, wallowing behind a mask of pleasantness. Once again, Marta wondered if her new persona was just another mask.
Two masks… she thought, gng over at the closed cubby.
She tried a little to remember the day the fsh happened as she had many times before, tried to remember exactly how Sonya had behaved, her mannerisms, her face, anything to clue her in on what had ged that day. Sonya seemed to simply know things and had beore than just the petent but defeated young woman she had been. Sonya was different. Marta was still vinced she’d seeure somehow, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why the thought wasn’t quite right. Something about that theory was just wrong.
She sighed, there was no point in dwelling on it, and every time she sidered broag the topic, she could feel Sonya slipping from her fingers like a specter. She’d leave. Marta had little doubt of that. Worse, if Sonya did leave, Marta feared that spark htness and pyfulness would die forever.
I ’t let that happen, Marta reaffirmed aly k down to scoop Sonya up in her arms. The young woman simply lulled a little a her head against Marta’s chest, a bit of drool nothing to worry about. She smiled at the sleeping woman. For someone so thin, you sure are heavy, Marta thought with amusement. I wish I could bme all that snag, but you won’t listen, will you?
She turned away and started walking towards the door leading into Sonya’s bedroom. She pushed it open and slipped inside. Sonya stirred a little and blinked, looking up at Marta’s face with those glowing eyes of hers. They seemed dimmer than usual.
“Did I fall asleep again?” Sonya asked, her words ing out slow and slurred.
“You did,” Marta said, “Let’s get you to bed.”
“Mkay,” Sonya mumbled and leaned forward, resting her head against Marta’s chest again, “Marta?”
“Mm?” Marta reached her bed and easily holding Sonya with one hand pulled the sheets babsp;
“Am I still Sonya?” Sonya asked, clearly still half asleep.
Marta looked down at her, a lump f ihroat that felt like it came from nowhere. She hadn’t imagihat Sonya was having those kinds of fears. Either face she wore, she always seemed so fident. She forced a smile onto her face as Sonya looked up at her again, so tired, so small like this. “You most assuredly are, look, I’m still having to put you to bed. You know, most people with disabilities don’t have this problem.”
Sonya’s lips twitched into a small grin and the light in her eyes bloomed a bit more, “Yeah well, I have you, don’t I?” She mumbled as Marta set her doulled the sheet up before rolling over and closing her eyes again.
“You sure do,” Marta said and ran her fihrough the sleeping woman’s hair. “No matter what.”
–
Sonya could kind-of remember that she’d woken up briefly before slipping into the realm of her dreams again. Initially the dreams had been nguid, distorted, and muddled as they teo be. This time, however, she felt that tell-tale sensation of realism settle in as her mind suddenly sharpened within the distinct space that were her memories. She still hadn’t figured out exactly how she was able to access her memories like this, let aloeract with them, but she assumed it was some bination of her cyberic brain and her enhanced senses and processing ability.
Not that she was happy about it.
Reliving memories of the past timelihis vividly wasn’t a pleasant thing for her. While it provided her insights aails that she could take advantage of, it also reminded her more clearly of just how badly things had go time around. Frankly, she rese.
Fortunately, or not-so-fortunately depending on how oerpreted it. This particur dream was going to be a short one. She already knew what was ing when she found herself standing in the safe-house she and hua had operated out of with the other anti-divine heroes he beginning of the war. She looked down and reized the dress she was wearing, she felt the krapped t, she could evehe particur spices that the cook had been using this m for breakfast. Supplies weren’t an issue yet.
It was all the same. Which made it all the worse. She knew what was i as the phone chimed in her pocket with the tone alertio a routi.
She closed her eyes and tried to remind herself that this was a dream, a memory, and that she had a ce to ge everything.
She pulled out her phone anyway and tapped the s ahe report, just to get this literal living nightmare over with.
SHELTER 55 HAS BEEN LOST: NO SURVIVORS
HOSTILE PARTY IDENTIFIED AS THE AMETHYST ORDER
Marta was dead.
Sonya swallowed thickly and narrowed her eyes at the message.
“Amethyst…” She trailed off aeeth ched together. She’d fotten. How could she have fotten that detail? She crushed the phone in her hand, ign the blood dripping on the floor. “Feng Hyunh!” She snarled, and the dream ended.
