After waiting for a few moments longer, her eyes snapped open and darted around as if looking for a terrifying monster nearby. Johns heart clenched at the sight.
“Hey, you’re okay,” he spoke softly but she still jumped at the sound, “You’re safe here. Are you feeling okay?”
The girl stared at him for a few moments before speaking, “M-magic man?”
John smiled at her. “Hey, you remember me.”
“Where am I?” She asked, her voice trembling.
“Somewhere safe. We’re in one of the security offices.”
She sits up, brow furrowed as if debating a hard question. A few moments pass but then her eyes widen in fear. “The aliens! Are they…”
John made a calming gesture. “I took care of them, they shouldn’t bother us here.”
She went quiet and stared at the deck of cards John was nervously fidgeting with. He really hoped she wouldn’t ask the obvious question, but somewhere in his gut he knew it would be one of her next questions.
“My…my mommy, do you know where she is?” She asked, staring into his soul.
There it was. John's throat closed up as the girl watched him. He knew he couldn’t break down in front of this girl, she needed something to hold onto. “She’s likely in the shelter that’s nearby.”
The sentence felt thick in his mouth, the likelihood her mother had made it to the shelter and left her daughter, injured, in a locker was low.
The girl nodded to herself even as she hugged her knees. They sat in silence for a couple minutes before John spoke up again.
“So, what's your name? Mine is John.” He said, hoping to keep her from falling too deep into grief.
“Sophia,” she responded without shifting.
“That’s a good name. Are you hungry?” At the mention of food Sophia perked up a bit, looking at John rather than some spot in the middle distance. John smiled, “I’ll take that as a yes. What would you like? Anything at all.”
Sophia looked around the small space, and the distinct lack of food. “Anything?” At John's nod she spoke hesitantly, “Do you have any pizza? It’s my birthday lunch.”
“It’s your birthday? How old are you?” He asked with genuine interest.
“I just turned ten. Me and mommy were on our way to my favorite pizza shop when…” She trailed off.
“Well then, let’s get you some pizza then. What kind would you like?” John asked, trying to keep his momentum.
“Hawaiian!” She said with a burst of excitement, and some challenge in her eyes.
“Pineapple on pizza? Really?” He asked, screwing his face up dramatically.
“Of course,” Sophia responded with all the smugness of a child who knows they’re right, “It’s the best kind.”
‘Sylmora, do I have enough?’
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A pizza box appeared on the ground between them, an image of a spread deck of cards laying on a bed of roses printed on the top.
Sophia let out a gasp, “You’re a Samurai!”
John just grinned as he set the pizza box on the couch next to her and flipped the lid open to reveal a large pizza covered in cheese, ham, and pineapple. It was the most perfect looking pizza he had ever seen.
Sophia zeroed in on the pizza and immediately grabbed a slice. She took a large bite and did a small dance as she chewed. “Itsh sho good!”
John couldn’t help but smile as he grabbed his own slice and took a bite. It certainly didn’t taste like the pizza he was used to, definitely not made of artificial ingredients.
He was about halfway through his slice when Sophia went to reach for her second and gasped. “Is that me?”
John looked to see what she was pointing at and saw, on the inside of the box lid, a chibi figure of Sophia wearing a princess dress made of roses and a crown.
“It looks like it is.” He said as he took another bite.
‘You’re a big softy aren’t you?’
‘Speaking of, what are our chances of getting her to the shelter?’
John thought for a few moments. The shelter was about 10 minutes of walking on a normal day. With them needing to be careful of the Antithesis and stay hidden it would likely take 30 minutes. He could likely make it with little issue, but he worried about Sophia.
‘Alright, do we have a map of the mall available? Specifically, places we can hide if necessary?’
A flash on his augs highlighted a desk set against the back wall with a small workstation. The multitude of screens seemed to show a handful of cameras. John made his way over there and sat down. Clicking on the screen had the desktop open right up.
‘No password? They were either lazy or very certain nobody would get back here.’
‘Thank you Syl, that will make this much easier.’
John studied the map and planned out a route that he hoped would get them to the shelter quickly, but also provided multiple spots for them to hide if necessary.
Next, he began to flick through the cameras to see what he could find, and it did not look good. Outside of the security office they sat in was clear, but that seemed to be where their luck ended. Every hallway he looked at had a handful of Model Threes wandering around and he saw a couple of what looked to be Model Fours hiding themselves in various places.
‘Syl, what are the chances I can take out a Model Four with these cards?’
John nodded as he thought. With his practice while Sophia slept he was confident in his ability to hit them accurately, the speed may be a problem from what he heard about them though.
‘Nothing to be done for it except to hope I don’t have to find out the hard way.’
John spun around in the chair to see Sophia finishing off another piece of pizza and lean back into the couch. He glanced at the box and his eyes widened when he saw that almost half the pizza was gone.
‘Where the hell did she put it all?’
After a few moments he shook his head and stood up. “How was your pizza?”
Sophia beamed up at him. “Delicious!”
“Good,” he said while chuckling, “Now, we are going to need to set some ground rules here so I can get you safely to the shelter.”
Sophia sat up a bit and looked him in the eyes as she nodded.
John took a deep breath before he started, “First things first, I need you to do whatever I say without questioning ok? I may not have time to explain my decisions.”
He waited until she nodded her understanding before continuing, “Second, you need to stay very quiet. We are going to be sneaking through the mall as much as possible. Finally, unless I tell you otherwise I need you to stay right next to me. Do you have any questions?”
Sophia shook her head. After she repeated his instructions back to him John stood back up. “Alright, let’s get going, the sooner we get going the sooner we can get you to the shelter.”
The two of them stood next to the door while John observed the camera view Sylmora populated in the corner of his augs. After a few moments John squeezed Sophia's hand and eased the door open.