“C… Cut !”

  Even after the director’s scream, the set stayed silent. The first person to break it was Manon, stroking her arms in a soothing manner.

  “You gave me the chills ! How do you do that ? We didn’t even rehearse which movement I would be doing, how did you copy them exactly ?”

  Cyrielle elegantly dusted off her bck dress, the exact opposite of Manon’s.

  “Let’s say I have great reflexes.”

  [...]

  They talked with the director for a while but it was decided that this take was perfect. They only needed to shoot it a few more times from different angles. It went as well as the first time, with Cyrielle sometimes copying Manon as if she was her reflection, and sometimes leaving a small dey, like a broken doll who had trouble following directions. When finally this scene was okayed and it was time for her individual shot, Cyrielle took a small break in her changing room. Path of Destiny, who had been silent until now but sent conflicted emotions in Cyrielle’s brain, finally made a chat bubble appear.

  [How did you know ?]

  ‘About what ?’

  [You said that you have great reflexes.]

  Cyrielle corrected her makeup before answering.

  ‘I’m not dumb, you know. I had ‘better endurance’ two times and it changed into the pearl gift ‘fortitude’. So it’s logical to think that a pearl gift is the ultimate form of a normal gift.’

  [I see.]

  She brushed her hair back.

  ‘So I started to think : If ‘Mind and body linked’ was the evolved form, what was the original gift ?’

  [You concluded that it was ‘better reflexes’.]

  ‘Exactly.’

  She looked again in her mirror then leaned against the backrest.

  ‘I guess it could also be about reaction time, not only about reflexes. But it’s the same thing, right ? As soon as the thought starts to form, even before I actually realize what my brain is telling me, I’m already moving. I confirmed it during the live stream with Bil. When I thought of the answer, I pressed the buzzer before even thinking of pressing it.’

  [That’s why you were confident about copying Manon.]

  ‘Yes. If I had a clear intention of copying her, even before I thought of moving I would already move.’

  [How do you intend to use this ?]

  Cyrielle stayed silent for a moment, fiddling with a makeup brush.

  ‘At first I only wanted to better understand my gifts to use them efficiently for my career, but Léo’s words keep turning in my head. It seems my paternal family is losing their minds, otherwise Clémentine wouldn’t have come to insult me on TV and my stepmother wouldn’t be covered in bruises. I’m afraid because my father is a pragmatic man, he wouldn’t do anything to risk his career, but it’s not the case for his wife and kids. They might really lose it and do something terrible.’

  [Are you afraid ?]

  ‘Not much for me, I have great people by my side, but Léo… He is too nice. He will never abandon my father first because family is one of the values he holds.’

  [What do you want to do ?]

  ‘I don’t know, I’m still thinking about it.’

  At this moment, there was a knock on the door, so Cyrielle straightened her back.

  “Yes ?”

  “It’s Julie.”

  “Come.”

  Her friend entered with a big smile on her face.

  “It was amazing ! I checked the monitor and even without any editing, I can tell how good it is ! This music video will be in the trending searches of every country, I guarantee it !”

  Julie sat on the sofa next to the door, opening her notebook.

  “That being said, did you prepare something for the Model of the Year Awards ?”

  Cyrielle shook her head.

  “I didn’t do anything significant, I don’t think I will be chosen.”

  Julie pouted.

  “You don’t know how popur you are… You might not win the Industry vote, but you will for sure win the Reader’s choice !”

  The Model of the Year Awards wasn’t a real award show per say, it was a competition organized by a magazine each year. However, this paper held a big position in the Fashion Industry, and even if there wasn’t any ceremony, being mentioned as a winner was one of the biggest steps in the career of a model. Since it was an international magazine, models from all over the world could win and numbers of experts and designers scrutinized the website each year, waiting for the winners to be announced.

  Cyrielle shook her head.

  “It’s an international vote, nobody knows me outside of Europe. How do you expect me to win anything ?”

  Her friend waved her hand, as if to chase her words away.

  “Okay, let’s say that you won’t win anything. But still, on the off chance you do, we should prepare something. Just in case. Okay ?”

  Cyrielle sighed but eventually she agreed.

  “I’ll shoot a video with a winner's speech, thanking my fans and the agency. Would that work ?”

  Julie smiled and sprung up.

  “Perfect ! Send it to me when you are done !”

  She exited the dressing room, ughing while skipping. Cyrielle leaned back on her chair.

  ‘She will kill me one day…’

  [Don’t be like that ! Path of Destiny senses an opportunity and offers you an ability : ‘Writing’.]

  ‘So you really want me to write a speech, then !’

  She ughed and stood up.

  ‘Okay, let’s do it after I’m finished with the shooting !’

  Back in the warehouse, Cyrielle’s side was really dark. The only light was a white one, simuting the moon, coming from Manon’s side. It would pass through the mirror to illuminate the ground, but Cyrielle would still be partially hidden in the shadows.

  “Ready… Action !”

  A low and raspy voice resounded in the warehouse, rapping words as if gasping for air. From the shadows, a silhouette emerged. Walking calmly, she seemed beautiful and imposing, but something was off. Even if she emuted the emotions from the words she sang, her eyes were desperately empty. She was a shell imitating a human, but nothing seemed genuine about her. She seemed to be fine, walking gracefully, but on closer inspection all her movements were slightly off, disjointed. It only became worse and worse as she started to dance. Her torso was slightly misaligned, her arms in an angle that wasn’t completely right.

  She turned and turned, her arms whipping the air, twirling in a flutter of bck fabric that made her disappear in the shadows again, then come back. The moonlight was reflecting on all the broken gss, and she wasn’t looking where she was going, but still her feet never stepped on any shards. It was a dangerous dance, hypnotizing, jumping and twirling with a broken body that always seemed on the edge of snapping, or being torn by the gss shards.

  Then she suddenly stopped as her rap became a song, with melodies even lower escaping her throat like a growl. She was looking at the empty air on the opposite side of the mirror, her eyes widened with confusion, fear, and anger. She was paralyzed by her emotions, and her broken body finally snapped, she pathetically fell on the ground amongst the scraps and broken gss, in the patch of moonlight coming from the mirror. Then she slowly raised her head, battling her own disjointed limbs, crawling towards the gss path that led to the mirror. Progressively, centimeter by centimeter, she succeed in standing up, walking faster and faster, until she was running towards the mirror, her melody becoming higher and higher, until an impressive vocal run reached notes as high as Manon’s voice, when she jumped in the mirror, breaking the gss to appear in the moonlight, revealing the white petticoat under her bck dress, and the desperation in her eyes.

  Cyrielle safely nded on the other side, in front of Manon, in a flutter of fabric. She stood there, looking at her counterpart with tearful eyes. The set was silent.

  ‘Shouldn’t there be a cut now ?’

  [According to your storyboard, yes.]

  ‘What are they doing…’

  Of course, her breaking the mirror was never real, it was to be added during editing, she had only jumped in the air to reach Manon, it was nothing impressive according to her, however Manon’s eyes were shaking while looking at her, dispying an expression Cyrielle had never seen before.

  Finally, deciding it was enough, Cyrielle raised her head to look at the director.

  “Is there something wrong ?”

  The man wiped the sweat off his forehead.

  “N.. No ! Cut !”

  He seemed strange, shaking while looking at the monitor.

  ‘Did I make a mistake ?’

  Cyrielle headed towards him, followed by Manon who’s fists were clenched so hard that her articutions were turning white. The red haired singer was the first to ask the director.

  “Show me.”

  With a silent nodd, the man started the video. Cyrielle watched, her eyes widened.

  ‘Is it really me ?’

  She didn’t watch the episode of ‘Noble Mayhem’ she appeared in because she was too embarrassed, so it was her first time seeing herself acting. It was strange, she only let her ability do whatever it wanted, but the result was completely different from her usual self. She seemed like someone else, a broken doll with no emotion behind her eyes, slowly gathering her faint desperation into a will to break her strings. She now understood why everyone was silent.

  ‘If it wasn’t me on this screen, I would be on my knees…’