Continuing the almost weekly releases of the GPR 3 draft. Sorry for the delay.
I’d like to think of my actions as unconventional.
Unpredictable. Unexpected. Difficult to fathom.
Dare I say crazy?
I’d like to stress that there is a method to my madness; a reason behind my irrational behavior.
In other words, I’d like to say that I didn’t jump off the side of the building without a plan or a reason.
Let’s begin with the reason.
I wanted to get away from Erina.
Pure and simple.
So what was the fastest, most reliable method?
If I decided to leave via the apartment, I would need a means to operate the elevator. I had noticed Erina touching her fingertips to a sensor plate beside the elevator doors. Undoubtedly that was a security measure. Were Mirai’s fingerprints recorded in the building’s security system? Alternatively, would the elevator take me straight down to the ground floor lobby or foyer without the need for fingerprint recognition?
I didn’t know, but in the event that I couldn’t operate the elevator, I would need to either return to the apartment, or descend via the fire escape.
Thinking about it now, as I jumped from balcony down to balcony and in the process having to repeatedly to climb over permaglass fencing, the fire escape was certainly the logical choice.
But instead I stupidly fled over the side of the building.
Why?
Because Erina worked her way into my thoughts, disrupted my rationality, and flipped my switches.
In short, I had to get away from her or I was liable to lash out with tragic results.
Yet, I wasn’t angry.
As contradictory as that sounds, as I jumped down the building, level by level, I wasn’t angry at Erina.
Instead, I felt wounded and hollow as though from that wound all my emotions had bled out, leaving a vacant shell behind.
Not even despair lurked within me.
Emptied of feeling, a calm had settled upon my mind, and I moved without thought – jumping and falling from balcony to balcony – until finally a new emotion was born.
It started with a mild soreness, but as it grew it birthed irritation.
What was the source of this soreness and the irritation it sired?
Mirai’s giant boobs!
Without a proper bra, the Princess Regalia, or other means of support, those perfectly shaped mounds of womanhood bounced every time I landed on a balcony, and by the time I’d descended fifteen or sixteen floors, I was in some real discomfort, and the pain coupled with the emptiness I felt within me to distract me, and eventually became my undoing.
Having leapt onto the edge of a permaglass balcony wall, I didn’t check below me.
Mirai’s mountainous breasts made looking down a little cumbersome, but I could still have taken a peek at where I was going to land before I jumped down from the top of the transparent wall.
I didn’t, and a moment later I splashed feet first into someone’s pool.
The cold water stunned me far more than the shock of suddenly finding myself submerged in a balcony pool. Because it was shallow, I touched the bottom with my sneakers as soon as my head sunk below the surface. I pushed upwards, broke through the surface, and gasped for air. After flailing for a heartbeat or two, I swam to the nearest edge of the pool, and started hauling myself out of the water.
In the corner of my eye, something small and white sped toward me. At first I suspected a security droid, but soon recognized it for a small dog. Neither I nor Mirai recognized the breed, but I can describe it as small, white, and covered in long shaggy hair. Running full pelt, it circled around the pool, yapping at me madly with a mouth full of small flat teeth.
I was halfway out of the pool when it launched itself at me, and tried to bite my face.
I splashed water at it, but it moved faster than I expected, making me wonder for a heartbeat if it really was a dog.
Dodging the water, it latched onto my right arm with its mouth, but the jacket sleeve proved too tough for its small teeth to penetrate. However, once it latched on, I couldn’t dislodge it, and given Mirai’s enormous strength, I was afraid of swinging my arm around too forcefully. If the little dog flew off, it might sail over the balcony and into the night sky, or it could fall in the pool and drown, or hit the ground with bone breaking force.
Hampered by sentimentality, and reluctant to cause it harm, I found myself at a loss on how to deal with the pesky mutt that was defending its realm.
If dealing with the pint sized pet wasn’t troublesome enough, the apartment lights soon turned on, and I glimpsed shadows moving behind the curtains drawn across the balcony window wall.
It wasn’t long before I heard a woman yell from inside the apartment.
“Harold! Shut up!”
From the tonal properties of her voice, she sounded middle aged, but it wasn’t until she drew the curtains aside with a wave of her hand that I saw that was true.
“It’s one in the morning. What the Hell is wrong with—huh?”
She stopped short as our eyes met.
“Who are you?”
I was kneeling by the side of the pool, soaking wet, my long blond hair drenched, wearing a heavy ground crew jacket, and looking like a runaway caught in the act.
I could very well imagine what was running through her head.
With her dark blonde hair tied into twin buns, and wearing a tracksuit in place of pajamas, the woman stared at me for a full second, before she waved her hand at the permaglass balcony doors. They opened in response and she rushed outside.
“What the Hell happened to you?” she demanded as she circled around the balcony pool. “Where did you come from?”
I stood up with the dog clinging by its teeth to my jacket sleeve. Its feet kicked the air as it refused to let go. “I fell from the sky.”
The woman stopped a few feet away, regarded me from head to toes, looked up at the early morning sky, and then stared down at her dog in confusion.
I held out my right arm to her, offering her the dog that stubbornly clung to my sleeve.
“I’m sorry. I can’t get him off. And I really need to be going.”
“Huh?” Her face contorted in confusion. “Going?”
“Yes. I need to be going.” I sounded a lot calmer than she had expected. In a way, I sounded rather mechanical, and it surprised me. “Could you get it off me?”
She crossed her arms. “First you tell me what’s going on, or I call the police.”
I sighed and began taking off the heavy jacket, then remembered my torn clothing. Giving up on that, I chose the next best option – I walked away.
I arrived at the permaglass wall fencing the balcony, judged the jump I needed to make, then leapt upwards with the dog clamped onto my jacket sleeve like a giant clothes pin.
“Hey—come back here! My dog—!”
Standing on the top edge of the permaglass wall, I looked quickly at the next balcony below me, then dropped onto it, landing with a wet sounding squelch. I winced when Mirai’s heavy boobs once again bounced with a sharp sting.
The dog must have been blessed with the jaws of death because it continued to cling onto my sleeve. At that point, I frowned at it then concentrated my vision upon the small animal. It wasn’t long before my senses sharpened to a razor’s edge, and I could now see people’s auras. But when I studied the dog, I noticed that it had none and realized then that it was an automaton constructed in the form of a small canine.
“Ghost, can you do something about it?”
“Princess, I thought you would never ask.”
I watched the mechanical canine jerk twice, before opening its death trap jaws. It dropped with a cringe worthy thud and lay still on the balcony floor. “Did you—kill it?”
“No, I merely reset its functions.”
“A factory reset?”
“No, that wasn’t necessary. A mere off-on was sufficient.”
“Oh….”
Free of the small mechanical mutt, I considered the permaglass wall surrounding this balcony, and looked up to see the woman thumping on the glass bordering her balcony, her yelling muted by the permaglass. Even without hearing her, it was clear to see she was pissed at me.
Hoping to appease her a little, I picked up the mechanical dog that was still in the process of resetting – though it was twitching on the ground as though electrocuted – and threw it up and over the transparent wall of the balcony above me. The woman had the presence of mind to catch the small machine before it could land on the ground and break. Afterwards, she continued to throw what I presumed were choice words down at me, before hurrying off somewhere, perhaps back into her apartment to report me to the authorities.
“Wonderful….”
Deciding to turn the page on that brief installment of my life, I once again regarded my surroundings with displeasure as I gently massaged my huge breasts under the jacket.
“This sucks….”
“Princess, if I may suggest.”
“Sure…,” I replied somewhat absently as I threw the floors above me a quick look in search of signs of pursuit.
I wonder if the Cat Princess will come after me?
“Princess, make a right turn. This is the corner of the building so you will find a terraced wall connecting the east face with the south-east face. I assure you, it will be far quicker to descend down that wall. And less painful.”
I looked down at myself. “I need a change of clothes.”
“Do you wish to summon the Sarcophagus? I can have you outfitted in your Regalia in a matter of seconds.”
I gave that some thought as I walked to the transparent wall fencing the south side of the balcony. “No. I don’t want them knowing yet that I’m linked with that coffin.”
“Please, don’t call it that….”
Whatever, I muttered inwardly as I looked through the permaglass at the terraced wall beyond it that resembled giant steps running steeply all the way down to street level. As Ghost had said, it was more like a wide join between the east and south-east faces of the building. It didn’t take me long to get over the permaglass and onto it, and with one arm supporting my boobs, I proceeded down to street level, one terrace at a time.
It took me a good ten minutes to descend to the last terrace that overlooked the base of the megascraper some twenty meters below it.
Cradling my breasts in my arms, I frowned at the drop I’d need to make, then took a deep breath before stepping off the terrace and falling to the ground.
Did it hurt?
Hell yes.
The impact worked its way up my legs and all the way to my eyeballs, and I fell to my hands and knees with a short sharp cry that turned into a hiss of pain when I tried to stifle it.
If it wasn’t evident before, it was certainly clear to me now just how beneficial the Princess Regalia was to me. Not only did it provide excellent support for Mirai’s voluptuous chest, but it seemed to absorb, distribute, and disperse physical impacts away from body. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that it acted like a bumper between me and harm. Regardless, as I picked myself up off the ground, I seriously considered revealing my hand and summoning the Sarcophagus for a change of clothes.
Gasping a little, I looked myself over. “Next time I spread my wings.”
“Princess, are you certain you can summon them?”
I pouted in thought, realized what I was doing, and cleared my expression in a hurry. “Honestly. No idea. Maybe they would spread on their own if I was falling to my death.”
“…you are not considering putting that hypothesis to the test, are you?”
My face twisted as I scowled at Ghost whom I could now see standing before me, a few feet away. I guessed he was projecting himself into my vision through the wetware, and thereby superimposing his image into my surroundings.
“Do you really think I’m that suicidal?” I grumbled at him.
He averted his eyes in thought. “I have yet to formulate an accurate profile on your personality.” He met my stare with a calm gaze. “Shall we say, the jury is still out?”
“Ha ha. You are so funny.” I indicated my boobs that I was cradling. “Why don’t you start being helpful instead and do something about these?”
In my vision, the ghost of Ghost regarded my breasts studiously. “Princess, might I inquire?”
“Inquire what?”
“Well, what exactly is wrong with them?”
My lips drew back into a snarl and I hissed at him, “They need support!”
“Very well. Follow me.” I blinked sharply and gaped at him as he then smoothly flourished upon me an elaborate bow. “Princess, this way if you please.”
“Ah…okay….”
Ghost turned around and began walking away from the building.
I stared at him in bewilderment for a few seconds before chasing after him.
The base of the megascraper apartment complex was a hexagonal stepped plaza leading down to street level. As I hurried away from the building, I looked behind me at the lobby visible through the ground floor windows.
“I thought the Cat Princess would be here by now,” I muttered to myself.
Naturally, Ghost heard me. “No need to worry.”
“Yeah? Why not?”
“I temporarily suspended her security rights within the building. The elevators will not respond to her, and the fire escape doors have been automatically locked to her.”
“What about my sister—I mean, Erina?”
“Likewise.”
“Hah,” I exhaled loudly. “Aren’t they going to know it was you?”
“Eventually.” He shrugged. “Or maybe not.”
I looked up at the building towering over me, and pictured Erina losing her cool and tearing up the apartment.
“Princess, please don’t dally.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Cradling my boobs, and feeling the chill through my wet clothes, I hurried after the ghost only I could see and hear.
Courtesy of Mirai’s wetware, I knew that local time was 1:15 in the morning. Not surprisingly, there was plenty of pedestrian traffic in Ar Telica’s Ring Zero. I wouldn’t describe it as the city that never sleeps, but there were numerous of shops open serving food, coffee, and drinks. Ring Zero bordered the harbor, so there were restaurants a plenty, and more than enough patrons to keep them running well into the bright side of the morning.
To say I was conspicuous was an understatement, so I ducked my head, hiding my face under my long dark locks – yes, Mirai was still in powered up mode – and kept an eye on Ghost a few feet ahead of me who nonchalantly walked through people like a phantasmal entity. Though I knew he was merely a projection into my vision, I have to admit the effect was a little creepy.
However, while he could pass through people without worry, I had to avoid bumping into them. I kept my attention away from their faces, refusing to make eye contact. But because of Mirai’s wide field-of-vision, I could see the curious expressions I drew, as well as looks of disgust from the women I walked by. No doubt some of them thought of me as I was a runaway or drugged out teen prostitute. I can’t say I felt pleasant when I garnered such looks, and I cursed Ghost for leading me down busy sidewalks.
After a few minutes of this torture, I followed him down a narrow side street, that was sparsely lit. A hundred meters further on, Ghost turned into a wide alley, and I trailed after him until he stopped a dozen meters from the previous corner. Halting beside him, I looked up to see the entrance to a shelter with numerous donation bins clustered nearby.
“What is this?” I asked him, sensing there were people inside the building, and despite knowing what it was.
“A charity organization,” he replied. “Frequently, the services of the Health and Welfare Division fall short of meeting the needs of the population. A non-profit organization such as this one helps fill the gap between the haves and the have nots.”
“Why is the entrance so far away from the street?”
Ghost stared at me with a faintly puzzled air. “Perhaps because the citizens do not wish to be reminded there are those less fortunate than them.”
“Ah…you have a point….” His answer was depressingly reasonable.
Ghost pointed at the bins I’d noticed. “You should find something in those donation bins.”
I chuckled softly without humor. “From riches to rags—” My chuckle died in a hurry when I noticed the stern expression on Ghost’s face. “What…?”
He regarded me in silence for a long while before saying flatly, “I suggest you hurry, Princess.”
What’s his problem, I asked myself, not liking the way ‘Princess’ rolled of his phantasmal tongue. Ah, whatever. I’m too tired to care.
Ignoring him, I stepped up to the bins, and then opened their lids.
After a few minutes rummaging inside, I found a surprisingly large plastic bag filled to bursting with clothing that must have belonged to a teenage girl. It was full of tops in various colors and styles, most of them quite trendy and revealing. But more importantly, I found a wide selection of bras and sports tops.
Closing the bin lids, I moved with my spoils to a dark corner of the alley.
Mirai’s night vision made it easy for me to see in the dark, but even so it was hard telling colors apart. I picked out items that I guessed would fit me, then peered around to see if I was being watched as I contemplated changing clothes here in the open.
Ghost indicated what looked like a narrow laneway. “Princess, I suggest that entrance over there. I’ve disabled the security camera watching over it.”
For a moment, I stared at him in both awe and fear at the ease with which he could interface and dominate photronic systems.
This is the entity that destroyed a Citadel with half a million people in it. If he wanted to, could he destroy Ar Telica just as easily?
The thought made me shiver and I hugged the plastic bag to my chest.
“Princess, time is precious,” Ghost warned me as he swept his gaze down both directions of the alley. “Please hurry.”
“You’re not going to peep on me?”
He looked perplexed or should I say, astounded that I would ask such a question. “Princess, you wound me.”
“Well are you?”
Ghost sighed as he placed an arm across his chest. “I promise not to peep on you.”
Does it really matter? I asked myself. It’s not like he has a body, but could he grow aroused at sight of me naked?
I shiver ran through me at the creepiness of the thought, and so I swallowed hard, nodded once, and then rushed over to the laneway that wasn’t a laneway but a basement entrance into one of the megascrapers occupying this district block.
After descending a dozen or more steps, I found myself well below street level as I approached a closed metal door and dropped the plastic bag at its foot. Throwing off the wet jacket, I quickly stripped out of my torn clothing, tossing them to the ground as the cold air bit into my skin, and chilled my arms and torso. I expected to sneeze, but Mirai was sturdier than she looked. Certainly, I felt cold but if I was Ronin Kassius, I’d be sneezing my lungs out by now.
After quickly drying myself by using a dark satin top from the bag, I found a grey sports bra that stretched fittingly over my breasts, then pulled out another top I’d noticed before. It was black, with short, ruffled sleeves, a modest neckline, and a frilled hem. It fit so well, that I guessed its owner must have been a well-endowed girl, and I wondered why she’d thrown all these clothes away. From what I remembered of teenage girl fashion, these articles of clothing were quite expensive. In other words, they weren’t items you’d purchase at a department store, but at a boutique.
Feeling curious, I dug deeper into the bag, discovering a handful of short, tight skirts, and a pair of dark capri pants that I decided to trade for my soaked denims. But that meant I had to do something about my underwear, and again I resorted to fishing around in the bag until I found – shock, shudder, horror – black lacy panties that were at least dry.
Who the Hell was this girl?
I had an epiphany as I stared at the silk panties in my hands.
Did her mother toss out all her sexy clothing?
Quickly slipping out of my wet clothes and into the dry panties and capri pants, I proceeded to donate my soaked belongings by pushing them into the bag.
The only pieces of clothing I couldn’t replace were my deck shoes, so I slipped my feet back into them, grimacing as I did so, and then fled the basement entrance. Having returned to the side street, I skulked back to the donation bins and tossed the plastic bag into one of them.
Ghost was keeping a lookout in a very humanly way that unnerved me, but he did run his gaze over me at one point.
“Good choice,” he praised me. “Ah, about your shoes.” Pointing at a specific bin, he added, “Try that one.”
When I peered inside, I soon realized it was meant for donated footwear.
I wasn’t keen on slipping my feet into someone else’s shoes, both literally and figuratively, but my deck shoes were dank and unpleasant to walk in.
After a couple of minutes looking at what was on offer, I found some heeled sandals that looked to be Mirai’s size, and put them on. They were cold but clean and dry, so I decided trade them for my wet deck shoes.
Feeling better about my appearance, I pondered what I should do with the man’s ground crew jacket, eventually deciding to fold it up and take it with me.
Ghost nodded in satisfaction at me, then arched an eyebrow as he expressed curiosity. “I am surprised by how well you are taking all this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Changing clothes without arguing. Not making a fuss over your body.”
I stared at him but in truth I wasn’t looking at him. Instead, I was picturing myself changing clothes beside the basement entrance with little regard to my surroundings.
“Yeah, that was a little too willing on my part,” I replied with a bitter nod, “but I was cold, wet, and uncomfortable. What would be the point in arguing about it?”
“Perhaps.”
“Are you suggesting I should have kicked up a fuss?”
“I am merely making an observation that you demonstrate a surprising willingness to adapt to your circumstances.”
“Is that a compliment?” I warily asked.
“Indeed it is.”
I took a deep breath, and admitted to him, “It’s not like I’m comfortable being Mirai. And getting changed out in the open isn’t my idea of fun. But there are times when put up and shut up make the most sense.” I hesitated before asking, “Does that make any sense?”
“It does.”
I sighed after a moment. “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.”
“Does that imply you are accepting of Mirai?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I.”
“And if you did?”
I sighed again and looked away. “I’d prefer going back to my old life.”
But that would mean dying prematurely.
Feeling trapped on all sides, I felt anxious and could only quell it by taking slow, deep breaths while focusing on the damp, folded jacket in my arms. But by looking down, I was conscious of the clothes I was now wearing, and how well Mirai’s body filled them out. I blushed in shame as I realized I was being vain, and yet I couldn’t deny that it felt pleasant to take pride in my appearance.
“Princess?”
I looked up at Ghost, and wondered if one day I would wake up and no longer think of myself as Ronin…but as Mirai or Isabel.
If so, what sort of person would I be when that happened?
What would my life be like afterwards?
Would I have learned to walk like a girl by then?
“Hey Ghost, can I ask you something?”
“By all means.”
“Do I walk like a girl or a boy?”
His eyebrows arched steeply, then came down in a frown. “If I may be so bold as to present my opinion.”
“You may.”
“From my many observations of Ronin Kassius, I can safely say he was never the manliest of men.”
“I think you’ve mentioned that already.”
“My point is that he lacked the—dare I say—swagger that most teenage boys have.”
“So I walked like a girl?”
“No, you simply walked. That is to say, you lacked the physique of girl but you also lacked the physique of a boy.”
“So I was somewhere in the middle.”
“Correct. As a consequence, I can say that your manner of walking is rather neutral.”
I felt my forehead begin to furrow. “Is that what Erina meant?”
“No, she most clearly exaggerated.”
I exhaled long and slow, feeling oddly relieved perhaps because I didn’t feel I was at an extreme. In other words, my body language wasn’t something that would naturally stand out. It may draw attention to me, but not in an untoward way.
So that begged the question, did I want to walk like a girl?
Folding his hands behind his back, Ghost observed me studiously for a moment before interrupting my train of thought. “Princess, I propose you not dwell upon it deeply.”
“Why?”
“Because in Mirai’s body, you will naturally learn to adapt your manner of movement. You simply need to give it time.”
I felt a cold emptiness begin to hollow out my chest, and I found myself speechless so I kept my mouth closed as I turned away.
Ghost had stated the obvious, that little by little I would become Mirai and Isabel, and discard the traits of Ronin Kassius.
Yet, apparent or not, it was still an unpleasant truth that I didn’t want to accept.
In the corner of my eye, I watched Ghost regard me with the air of a teacher, or a counsellor. “Princess, where to next?”
I realized he was choosing to distract me from my troubled thoughts, and I silently thanked him.
Looking around me at the quiet, deserted side street, I gave the question my full attention for a short while. After clearing my throat, I wet my lips slowly and I looked up at him. “I…I need some time…to myself.” I frowned slightly before concluding, “I’d like to go somewhere where I can think.”
Ghost’s eyebrows rose and fell in a subtle response to my answer.
Was he surprised by my reply? Why would that be?
I was still wondering why when he soon favored me with a gentle nod. “In that case, Princess, may I make another suggestion.”
I wet my lips again before deferring to his judgement with a hesitant nod of my own.
Apologies for the delay and rough cut of this chapter, and thank you for sticking with it for so long.
For those of you interested in reading or purchasing Book One and Book Two, they can be found on Amazon KDP here:
Book One - Awakening the Princess
Book Two - The Measure of a Princess
They are also available on the Kindle Library.
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In other words, please, spread the word.
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My editor informed me that Listopia can make a big difference to the sales of a book, so if it helps to spread the word, then I'd be grateful for any votes they can get.
Arigatou!!!
This is the second version of Chapter 2, Part II.
It's a little closer to what I had in mind but still not perfect. However, I decided to remove some of the uncharacteristic behavior exhibited by Mirai in verison 1.
Also, I felt I was wasting an opportunity for Mirai to continue puzzling through her circumstances.
Anyway, I'll wait to see how this version is received.
As I followed Ghost, or at the very least his superimposed image, the bustling sidewalks grew busier the farther we walked and the closer we drew to Ring Zero’s entertainment districts that resided due west of the horseshoe shaped harbor.
Ghost wouldn’t tell me our destination within the district, so I decided pressing him for an answer would be a waste of time, but I had another reason for keeping silent.
No longer wet and uncomfortable, I wasn’t trying to hide from the sidewalk traffic anymore.
I had become one of the many in the crowd, and thus, I was able to soak in my surroundings.
Standing at an intersection, surrounded by people waiting for the light to change, I brushed aside locks of blonde hair, and looked up at the city buildings.
Even when she wasn’t powered up, Mirai’s eyes and senses were crystal clear, allowing me to perceive the environment with greater clarity than at any time during my existence as Ronin Kassius. Because of this, I was able observe and experience the city like never before.
My olfactory organs were nearly inundated by the rich variety of smells they were capturing and cataloging. The smell of people, the smells from the shops, the smell of vehicles on the road, even the subtle smell of metal from the mag-levs racing overhead on elevated rail lines – I could sense all of it, including the veiled scent of the ocean carried on the back of the breeze drafting in from the harbor a few hundred meters away to the east.
On my bare skin, I could feel the cold air, and the warmth of the people around me. When their bodies brushed by me, unable or unwilling to avoid contact on the wide, populated sidewalk, I could feel the texture of their clothes and their skin.
Conversations, shouts, laughter, footsteps, music, the hiss of electro-fusion drives from cars and mag-levs, the whirring of drones overhead, the high frequency hum of photronics lights, the rustling of clothes, all blended into a collage of sounds absorbed by my ears.
There was a great deal for my eyes to feast upon as well.
When no looking at the people around me, I gazed upwards at the giant pyramidal megascrapers of Ar Telica, rising a thousand feet high, lit by countless exterior lights rather than by light coming from their windows since the majority of the city’s population was asleep, a fact belied by the number of people crowding the sidewalks, shops, and malls at this hour. Because of their slanted exteriors, the buildings avoided the canyon effect, leaning back to offer as much of the sky as they could. Thus while they loomed over me, I didn’t feel oppressed by them. I doubted there were any engineering benefits, but perhaps this was one reason why the general architecture of the city-states was reminiscent of the Aztec pyramids.
All of this combined to immerse me in the mélange of sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the city and its people.
Yet this was only the proverbial cake.
The icing was the emotional impact it had upon me.
For me, this was a new experience that went beyond the physical.
I had never walked these streets during the dark side of the morning.
I had never lived in the city as I was living in it now.
My life was a sheltered routine existence that was safe and secure, and adhered to a mandatory curfew for young people.
From my dormitory balcony I had looked down at the city, but never looked up at it the way I could now.
I could never have indulged in my surroundings to this extent.
All of this was possible because Mirai was an entity that perceived her surroundings at a preternatural level. She was an existence that was naked and raw.
I remembered reading how autistic people experienced the world to such a degree of clarity that the sensory overload overwhelmed them.
Yet while it was true that I now lived in a world where the proverbial curtains had been drawn aside, the windows opened, and the scales removed from my eyes, Mirai’s mind was coping.
I wasn’t hampered by the rich, vibrancy of Ar Telica’s nightlife.
I was absorbing and relishing it, and seeing the world like no other human could.
And as I realized this…my euphoria evaporated and reality crushed me to the sidewalk.
Mirai was an existence like no other…and because of this she was alone.
I couldn’t share what I was feeling with anyone else because they wouldn’t understand it.
Describing it with words would never suffice.
They had to be like me to appreciate what I was experiencing.
But that meant no longer being human, and knowing that I wasn’t human added to the isolation that now fettered my state of heart and mind.
The sights and sounds of the city grew muted, vague, and indistinct.
What was once so clear was now dull, and I turned my attention away from the city above me, unable to bear the weight of the vista.
The light turned green for pedestrians, and I was swept along across the street by the impatient crowd.
Trailing quietly behind Ghost, I began to feel incorporeal, an existence that now lived in a separate reality from the rest of humanity, seeing things they couldn’t see, feeling in ways they couldn’t feel, able to do things they couldn’t do, and like a vicious spiral it served to reinforce my uniqueness and isolation.
I suddenly thought of another existence that was like mine.
A fictional character in a novel written hundreds of years ago – Frankenstein’s monster.
The lonely monster that had initially beseeched its creator for a mate to dispel its solitude; for a companion that could understand it.
Would I become like the monster?
I knew that I wasn’t a loner, but the deeper question was would I crave companionship like the monster had?
That made me wonder what kind of companionship I was after – male or female – and my feeling soured as a result. I liked girls but there were times after awakening as Mirai where I’d caught myself thinking of Mat in embarrassing ways.
So while I was drawn in one direction, I was also being tugged in the other.
Wrapped in my thoughts, I didn’t notice Ghost had stopped walking until I passed through him.
A shiver ran through me and I turned around to look at him now standing behind me.
Okay—that was creepy!
“Why did you stop?” I hissed at him while wrapping my arms tightly about me.
“Because, Princess, we have arrived.”
Looking around at my surroundings, it took me a short while to gain my bearings as I found myself standing before a short squat, circular building with an immensely tall tower stretching far above me into the night sky. Because I had visited this place before with Mat, I recognized it as a civic center that served as the foundation for Ar Telica Tower. That was another reason for me to recognize this locale – the Tower was the tallest structure in the city-state, rising some three and a half thousand feet above sea level. Serving as a tourist spot, it was unusually open at all hours. Entry into the building was free, though I would have to pay an admission to ride the fast mag-lev elevators up the Tower’s various observation decks and restaurant levels.
“Ghost?”
“It will be fine, Princess. Follow me.”
“No, I mean, why are we here?” I sincerely was baffled by his decision to guide me to the Tower.
“Princess, you need a change in perspective.”
I frowned inwardly, wondering how looking at the city from above was going to help me.
That said, did Ghost know what was troubling me?
I followed him up the long, wide steps to the building. Once inside, I saw a short queue of people waiting at the top of a stepped dais surrounding a white column more than twenty meters in diameter occupying the middle of the floor space. Running through the ceiling, the column served as part of the Tower’s internal support structure, and contained the elevator shafts for the lift cars that travelled up and down the Tower’s length. To access the elevator bank at the top of the dais, I would need to pass through the security scanning gates, and so I hesitated as I was unsure of how they would react to Mirai’s body. There was also the matter of how I would pay for the trip up the tower.
In a whisper, I asked, “Ghost, am I going to set off alarms?”
“Princess, you may walk through. I have taken care of the security gates.”
I shivered again, as Ghost calmly reminded me of the extent of his abilities.
If he ever turned against us…we wouldn’t stand a chance.
I swallowed nervously before bringing up the matter of money. “How am I going to pay?”
“You place your right hand on the scanning plate. The cost of admission will be deducted from your account.”
“My account? Ronin Kassius’s bank account?”
Ghost shook his head and looked amused. “No, Princess. Isabel val Sanreal’s account.”
I blinked quickly. “She has money? I mean—I have money?”
“Most assuredly. Considerable funds.”
I noticed I sounded reluctant when I asked, “Just how much is considerable?”
Ghost hesitated. “Enough to ensure you will not be short on change.”
“Ha ha. Funny. So how much money does she have?”
“Approximately four million dorans.”
“Four million…?” I swayed on my feet for several heartbeats before catching my balance. Pressing a palm to my forehead, I whispered uneasily, “Did you say…four million?”
In the corner of my left eye, I saw Ghost look at me with concern. “Princess, why are you surprised? As a member of the Sanreal Family, you should expect your net value to be substantial.”
With my palm still pressed to my forehead, I looked crookedly up at Ghost. “Four million dorans, Ghost.”
He started looking puzzled. “Yes?”
I lowered my voice even more. “Don’t you get it? Four million dorans! I could buy a mansion with that much money.”
Ghost made an ‘ah’ expression and clicked his fingers. “Yes, indeed. A very wise investment.”
Taking a deep breath, I asked, “Why do I have so much money?”
“A welcoming gift from the Sanreal Family to their long absent daughter.”
“I can use all that money now?”
“The terms and conditions stipulate that a stipend is available to you each month out of the four million in your account. Also, a portfolio has been established under your name. At present your investments total an impressive amount.”
I wasn’t just reluctant but scared to ask, “How…how impressive?”
“Three hundred and sixty million dorans…give or take a few million.”
It took a long while for the amount to register within my brain.
“…I…I need to sit down….”
Turning drunkenly, I looked for somewhere to sit until Ghost pointed to a row of vacant sofa seats near a display stand running a holovid projection tour of Ar Telica’s Tower.
Trudging over to it, I sat down on an empty seat and hunched over my lap with my head in my hands, distinctly aware of my heavy breasts pushing at the sports bra’s material. However, even Mirai’s boobs weren’t enough to distract me from Ghost’s devastating revelation.
“Why?” I asked.
“Why what, Princess?”
Exhaling heavily, I looked up at him. “Why would they do that? Do they really have my long term interests in mind? Or is it all just a front?”
“Both. To support the veracity of Isabel val Sanreal’s identity, the Sanreal Family has created her existence from the ground up. Financial security will add to her realism.”
I shook my head slowly. “Why? Why go that far? This body was meant for Clarisol, but why go that far for her?”
Ghost fell silent with a faintly troubled frown.
I continued looking up at him, until a thought crossed my mind. “Ghost, where is Clarisol’s Virtual Prison? Is it here in my reality or in hers?”
“Not long ago the construct maintaining her virtual space was brought over to this reality. Think of it as a concession on the Empress’s part.” He frowned slightly before amending his reply. “Perhaps it is more fitting to say, Clarisol’s imprisonment was downgraded to a house arrest.”
“You mean it was worse than it is now?”
If the bleak environment her mind was in now was equivalent to a home imprisonment, I didn’t want to think of what her previous virtual prison was like.
However, Ghost shook his head. “No. She has been contained in that representation for ten years. But it is only recently that she was given access to material from the outside world. In other words, the conditions of her isolation were relaxed.”
“That’s still cruel,” I muttered under my breath.
Naturally, Ghost heard me. “I agree.”
“Then why was the Empress so gracious?”
Ghost folded his arms and assumed a pensive pose. “I do not know. It puzzled House Novis as well. However, they were not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Ghost, what did her family have planned for her?”
Ghost stiffened slightly.
I found it strange that his projected image would do so, and for a heartbeat I wondered if it was an act on his part, rather than a reflex reaction that slipped past his control. “Ghost?”
“I cannot say.”
“I doubt they’d be able to keep it a secret from you.” Cocking my head slightly, I stared at him reproachfully. “So that means you won’t tell me.” After straightening my posture on the seat, I added, “You told me you wouldn’t lie to me, but that doesn’t mean you will tell me everything.”
“It is a question of trust, Princess.”
“Trust is a two-way street.”
Again he fell silent, and stood stiffly before me.
I chose to sit back and softly murmured, “I don’t understand why she would be given the existence of Isabel val Sanreal if she already lives as Clarisol val Sanreal.”
Ghost bowed his head for a moment, before sitting down on the sofa seat vacant to my right.
To me it felt like a movie moment, where spies sit on the same bench in a park, acting all discreet while sharing state secrets as children play in the background and the unsuspecting populace walks by. Ghost certainly was projecting the air of a troubled spy as his image sat beside me.
“There is no guarantee the Empress would ever release Clarisol. Isabel is an existence that could offer her a way out, albeit for only a copy of her.”
“What about the Simulacra versions of her?”
Ghost shook his head. “They have finite lifespan.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
Again, he shook his head. “It is by design. One year. Twelve months.”
I turned to look at him, cautious of how that action would be seen by others but quickly noticed the place was deserted, and the visitors waiting at the elevator bank had boarded the high-speed mag-lev lifts that would carry them up the Tower.
I swallowed quietly and then softly asked, “Because her Simulacra is a Master Grade body?”
“No. Because the Empress decreed it.”
“She what?”
Ghost raised his head a little, and looked at the foyer’s opposite end. “Kateopia decreed that Clarisol’s Simulacra that live in the physical world would expire after one year. Before then, they would need to dump their memories into the Clarisol living in the virtual space.” He looked down and sighed. “Of course, the Simulacra did not know of this…until one of them discovered the truth. Unfortunately, she dumped her knowledge into Clarisol before she could be stopped. Because of this all the Simulacra made from Clarisol are imprinted with that knowledge. And some of them do not take it well.” He released an unexpected chuckle. “That last version of her was by far the most unrestrained. I would go so far as to describe her as unreconcilable with the real version.”
I turned away. Resting back, I looked up at the ceiling many meters above me.
Was that why Clarisol acted the way she did? Was she unhinged by knowing that she would only live for a year? Did she choose to live her life literally to the fullest because it was so short?
Even so, I won’t forgive her for what she did to Angela and Felicia.
Then I remembered the difference between the two Clarisols, and wondered if holding a grudge against her was worth it.
The real version? Is it even possible to call her that?
“Ghost…I just don’t get it.”
In the corner of my eye, I watched him glance at me.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “If Kateopia loved Clarisol’s mother that much, why treat her daughter like a mass murderer?”
“She is not punishing Clarisol. She is punishing House Novis.”
“Ghost, that’s a contradiction.”
“I am aware of that.” Abruptly, he stood up and began pacing before me. “It is a contradiction not lost on anyone.”
“So House Novis concocted the plan to use a fake existence to give at least a copy of Clarisol a chance at a new life.” I shook my head, demonstrating my confusion. “Why not create an identity for her that was far and away from House Novis and the Sanreals?”
“They did create an existence that was far removed from them. They spent considerable time and resources creating the identity of Isabel Allegrando. She was to live safe and comfortable on a colony world. Far away from Teloria and from the bridge between our respective universes. But in the end it was all for naught.”
“Because the Empress found out about her?”
“Correct. She found out about Mirai. She learnt about Isabel and the plan to copy Clarisol into her.”
I cocked my head at him. “Where did the Angel Fibers fit into all this?”
“The Angel Fibers were to give her abilities she would need to survive. To live beyond the lifespan of a Simulacra. That is what your sister promised the Sanreals, and House Novis.”
It seemed that the Angel Fibers were always involved in the question of mortality and immortality. Yet I found it extraordinary that Clarisol’s family harbored such guilt over her imprisonment that they would go to such lengths to atone for the punishment she endured. In a way, wasn’t their plan treason against the Empress?
“Ghost, who chose the name, Isabel, for Clarisol’s new identity?"
He gave the impression of taking a deep breath. “Your sister chose the name Isabel.”
Was it true then? Did my mother truly wish to name me Isabel if I was born a girl?
I had distinctly troubling thought follow on the heels of that question.
Everything Erina had told me indicated she had no intention of throwing Mirai into the Gun Princess Royale. Everything I’d been told by Ghost and Clarisol confirmed that premise. Mirai was a vessel – a host for the Angel Fibers – and thus too valuable to risk being killed or injured in the championship. Erina had made it quite clear that my predicament was of the Empress’s making. So why create Mirai for the intention of giving Clarisol a chance at life? Why would Erina be willing to give up Mirai – something and not someone that she considered so precious that she would face down an Empress?
The thought of Erina relinquishing Mirai made no sense to me, not when Mirai could affect the lives of thousands of diseased people.
But what if she wasn’t playing the game the Sanreals thought she was? What if Erina never intended Mirai to be a vessel for Clarisol?
I swallowed and couldn’t help averting my gaze away from Ghost.
What if Erina had always intended Mirai as a vessel for me? But why would she do that? Did that mean that Erina feared she could not save Ronin Kassius? Was she preparing for the possibility of failure? Or was it something else?
With the plans laid down by Erina and the Sanreals exposed to the Empress, an instance of Clarisol could not take ownership of Mirai and flee to the outermost realms of human control space. Thus Mirai was stuck here on Teloria and now a participant in the Gun Princess Royale.
However, that left her under Erina’s watchful eye.
I held back from biting my lower lip as I pondered the dangerous thought.
Was that it? Was that the reason why everything fell apart?
If Erina was plotting betrayal behind the backs of the Sanreal Family, she would need a dangerous degree of motivation, and if she wasn’t preparing Mirai for either Clarisol or myself, then perhaps she intended to use Mirai as a vessel for Akane Straus.
Either way, Erina was playing with fire.
Bowing my head, I cast my gaze down at the carpet below my sandaled feet and suppressed a cold shiver.
If Erina was playing with fire, this wasn’t going to end well for her…or for me.
Sensing Ghost watching me closely from a near distance, I realized I’d been thinking for too long. My silence could betray my thoughts.
“Hey Ghost?”
“Princess.”
“If I had money all this time, why did you make me raid the charity bins?”
“Walking into a shop in your disreputable state would have raised questions. It might have led to unforeseen consequences later.”
I see. If Isabel val Sanreal was recognized later by the shopkeeper, they might have written about the encounter on social media. Rumors and gossip would have been born out of it.
That was what I thought, but I decided to play another card with Ghost. “I could have talked my way out of it.”
“Perhaps, but accessing your account would have alerted your sister to your location.”
I nodded inwardly, but outwardly I expressed surprise as I looked up at Ghost. “They have tabs on my account?”
“They do.”
“Then paying for admission here would have alerted them as well.”
Ghost was silent for a long, telling moment. “My bad.”
“Do you want me to be caught?” I asked him with a voice laced with suspicion.
He folded his hands behind his back and assumed a sheepish expression. “I had presumed that the view from above would have calmed you down. Perhaps, you would have been more agreeable to an open discussion with your sister.”
“Ghost, don’t call that woman my sister.”
He looked troubled for a heartbeat before bowing politely to me. “As you wish, Princess.”
I exhaled loudly as I raised my gaze at the foyer’s high ceiling.
“Ghost, there’s someplace I’d like to go.”
He waited expectantly for me, and after a few heartbeats, I exhaled softly this time and it could have been mistaken for a sigh.
“I’d like to go home....”
My voice failed me unexpectedly, embarrassing me, so I pressed my lips tightly together as I continued looking up at the ceiling.
Yet I wasn’t just embarrassed.
I was also struggling with the weight of my decision, knowing there would be pain while believing it was something that I needed to do. I didn’t think of it as a rite of passage. It was just the necessary turning of a page in order to begin a new chapter. After all, back aboard the Sanreal Crest I had pretty much declared that I would live as Isabel val Sanreal, and fight in the Gun Princess Royale as Mirai.
However, saying it and accepting it were not one and the same.
I was holding back or rather being held down by my ties to Ronin Kassius.
It was painful to acknowledge that truth, but I had already taken a step away from my previous existence – I no longer considered Erina Kassius as my sister.
However, ties remained waiting to be cut.
I couldn’t be certain if Ghost misunderstood what I meant, or was simply acting that way when he tipped his head ever so slightly to ask, “You wish to return to the apartment?”
I swallowed as discreetly as I could, and not trusting my voice, I replied with a succinct, “No.”
“In that case, Princess, where do you wish to go?”
It should have been easy to say, yet the words wound themselves around my chest, making it hard to breathe.
This is something I need to do. If I don’t do this…I won’t be able to move forward.
My heart beat heavily as I stood up from the comfortable sofa seat, and looked into Ghost’s eyes.
“I’d like to go home, Ghost…back to my dormitory….”
I swallowed after my voice failed me again, unable to say the rest.
…to pay my respects to my life as Ronin Kassius.
Ghost’s eyes studied me in silence for a long while, before he broke into a weak smile. “I understand, Princess.”
This time I sighed for real, and was surprised by the degree of relief I felt. “You do?”
He gave me a warm nod, and yet I caught the hint of sadness in his smile as he stepped aside with a polite bow.
“Well then, Princess. Shall we be off?”
For those of you interested in reading or purchasing Book One and Book Two, they can be found on Amazon KDP here:
Book One - Awakening the Princess
Book Two - The Measure of a Princess
They are also available on the Kindle Library.
If you do enjoy them, please, let others know by posting a review.
In other words, please, spread the word.
Thank you for sticking with it despite its troubles. I'm interested in what people have to say about this version.
Best wishes.