This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

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Aboard the luxurious civilian VTOL, I had much to think about on the night flight from the marina to the apartment complex in Ar Telica.

My decision to live as Isabel, and to fight in the Gun Princess Royale as Mirai, weighed heavily upon my mind because it meant I was temporarily abandoning my quest to return to my old life.

But what else could I do?

My options were few if any, and I wasn’t in a position to fight back.

Moving forward in life as both Isabel and Mirai was the logical course of action, and in truth it wasn’t one that I’d taken lightly. It was strongly influenced by Clarisol’s declaration that my life as Ronin Kassius was a thing of the past – an assertion that was supported by Erina’s reaction when I questioned her back on the boat.

Granted, I wasn’t abandoning all hope, but I needed to face the prospect that I was indeed stuck as Mirai for the foreseeable future.

So what kind of life could I look forward to?

Feeling as though I was living minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, reluctant to think of what the sunrise would bring, should I even allow myself to ponder my future? Could I live as a girl? Was it something that would come to me both gradually and naturally now that I was inside Mirai’s female body and brain?

As the VTOL flew over the harbor waters, I looked out the window beside me.

The windows were treated with an anti-reflection coating that prevented them from reflecting the cabin’s softly lit interior. This allowed for a clear view of the harbor, its waters glistening with light from the city-state’s megascrapers adorning the shoreline and far beyond into the mainland.

By chance, my gaze floated over one of the three islands poking their heads above water. I didn’t think it was Telos Island that I saw, but the sight of that island was enough to send an anxious jolt through me as I considered the prospect of attending school as Isabel val Sanreal, and not as Ronin Kassius.

But was it something I should worry over?

Was it not the least of my problems?

That depressing line of thinking made me turn away from the window to regard the plush interior of the passenger cabin with its forward and reverse seating.

The VTOL was moth shaped, with six landing struts and wedge-shaped levitator wings fanning out from the dorsal superstructure. With a body that was thirty feet long, it had plenty of space for a lavishly appointed passenger cabin outfitted like a limousine with comfortable leather seating, wood paneling, climate control, and noise dampening for a whisper quiet ride.

While I appreciated being in the lap of luxury, I was bothered by the company I shared.

The Cat Princess, to whom Erina referred to as Akane, was sitting beside me to my right and facing forward. For now, her stun baton was clipped to her thigh, and the handgun she carried was holstered and hidden beneath the windbreaker jacket she wore. This was a different gun, not the heavy caliber hand-cannon she’d threatened me with back aboard the yacht, but a smaller sidearm she could easily conceal under her jacket.

That said, I wouldn’t call it a lady’s gun.

My sister, Erina, sat directly opposite me and faced the rear of the cabin with her eyes closed and her head resting back against the seat. She had changed her attire to an all-white affair – an ensemble of slim trousers, a blouse, blazer, and kitten sling backs. Once again, she looked resplendent. Should I say, worth a fortune? In fact, she looked so good my feelings soured into a gloomy mix that swirled around in my stomach and gave me a belly ache.

The last of my companions in the cabin was Doctor Umi Pearson, a slender young woman dressed in a business skirt-suit, and a long summer coat. She was attractive but not in an overly conspicuous way. Her blonde hair was tied into a tidy bun at the back of her head, and she wore thin spectacles that rested lightly on the bridge of her nose.

Pearson had been waiting for us at the marina’s wharf, standing by the boarding steps to the VTOL, and Erina had introduced her as a member of the team that gave birth to Mirai. When she offered me her hand in greeting, I found myself unable to accept it. Knowing she was amongst those responsible for the mess I was in made me glare at her with such intensity that she actually took a step back.

Now, she sat beside Erina, tapping away at a large magazine-sized tablet resting on her lap.

“This is her schedule,” she said, before handing the device to my sister.

By ‘her’ she obviously meant me, and my mood darkened.

Had she said ‘it’, I was fairly certain I would have lost my temper and punched her.

Erina blinked absently for a while then wordlessly received the tablet with both hands.

I watched my sister study the contents on display, then snidely asked, “Do you need a blood and urine sample?”

With her attention on the tablet, Erina barely shook her head as she replied, “No, we obtained those while you were unconscious.”

I frowned at her. “When I was unconscious?”

Erina glanced up at me. “You were unconscious when you arrived aboard the Sanreal Crest. Remember?”

Seated beside me, the Cat Princess yawned. “This was after I knocked you out.”

Indeed, I did remember that incident quite well – something I would rue for many days to come.

However, rather than pointlessly scowling at the mechanical girl who’d already turned away, I scowled at Erina instead. “You just can’t keep your hands off me, can you?”

“It was less trouble getting the samples that way.”

“How considerate of you,” I snarked back.

Just like Erina. Always so efficient. Minimum effort, maximum gain.

However, being treated like a lab rat rubbed me the wrong way, and I had to swallow my anger down twice before asking, “Won’t the samples be contaminated by the tranquilizer?”

“We factored that into the analysis,” Pearson nervously interjected, then seemed surprised at having spoken so she quickly clammed up.

I glowered at her. “You thought of everything, didn’t you? You must be very proud of yourself.” I applauded her. “So what’s next? Do you want me in a hamster wheel?”

Pearson shied back a little, but Erina exhaled unhappily as she resumed reading the reports displayed on the tablet. “Isabel, grow up.”

“Into someone like you? No, thank you. I’d rather jump out of this VTOL now.”

In the corner of my eye, I noticed the Cat Princess yawn again. “Eri, just say the word—”

“And you’ll what?” I cut her off. “You’ll shoot me?”

The Cat Princess tapped her stun baton. “No. I’ll shove this up your—”

“Just try it—!”

“That’s enough—both of you!” Erina cut in loud enough to surprise both the Cat Princess and I into silence. She placed the tablet on her lap as she regarded me with a stern light in her eyes. “You assured me you would behave.”

I quickly reviewed my conversations with her. “I don’t remember saying that.”

“Then will you behave? You do realize you can make this a lot easier on yourself.”

“You mean a lot easier on you.”

Erina exhaled wearily. “You’re going to give me gray hairs….”

“I’d say that’s the least of your worries.”

Perhaps someone up there was watching down on me. Maybe they were listening in too, because a moment later, the VTOL abruptly lurched with enough force to cause Erina to cry out in startled panic. Within a heartbeat, she was clutching at her armrest with white knuckles.

Puzzled by her reaction, I absently listened to the pilot’s languid voice intruding into the cabin.

“Apologies, ladies. We’re flying through mild turbulence over the city. ETA is nine minutes to the complex.”

The VTOL jumped again and soon we were all clutching at the armrests fitted to the cabin doors.

Mild turbulence, my ass!

Surprisingly, the Cat Princess and I agreed for once. “He calls this mild turbulence? I thought this Hawkmoth could fly through a hurricane?”

“It can,” Pearson replied while nervously staring up at the ceiling, “but the ride wouldn’t be pleasant.”

The Cat Princess narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Okay. Then how do we know he isn’t doing this on purpose just to stir us up?”

Erina and Pearson shared a thoughtful, worried look.

Realizing that she’d spiked their fears, the Cat Princess hastily backpedaled. “Hey, I was kidding. Just kidding.” However, after another unexpected bounce, she grumbled unhappily, “Maybe we should get some of the Empire’s tech into these things.”

The bumpy ride grew violent for a few moments before calming down.

I wondered if we’d flown through a storm and into the eye of a hurricane. However, the view outside the VTOL was clear with no sign of clouds or rain, and the night was brilliantly illuminated by Ar Telica’s towering megascrapers.

At one time they’d been referred to as mega skyscrapers because of their extraordinary size. But as these buildings became the norm across Teloria and other colonized worlds, they gradually came to be known as megascrapers for lack of a better name. Frankly, it was the kind of terminology that used without context was totally meaningless. Regardless, as I looked out the window, the city-state with its thousands of megascrapers appeared extraordinarily vivid to me.

The millions of lights dotting and dashing the surface of the buildings created a panoramic portrait painted in Morse code. It was a brilliant view that stole my breath, and for a long while I forgot all about my troubles as I stared in awe at the magnificent city sprawled out before me.

“…it’s beautiful…,” I whispered as though seeing Ar Telica for the first time in my life. Then my heart skipped a beat when it occurred to me that I owed this experience to Mirai’s exceptional night vision.

So this is what it’s like seeing through Mirai’s eyes.

The thought dampened my exhilaration for a second, and in that moment, I noticed my sister in the corner of my eye looking as pale as snow.

I turned to regard her properly as I abruptly remembered something of note.

“Are you…still afraid of flying?”

Erina glared at me and clenched her jaw as the craft jolted with enough force to make my hips ache.

“Hah,” I mocked her when the ride settled down once again. “You hated rollercoasters as well. I’d forgotten about that….”

Erina’s glare intensified but I met it with a smirk.

Sucks to be you, I mouthed at her, then noticed Pearson studying me keenly with her lips pursed. Irritated by her scrutiny, I considered glaring at her, but then decided she wasn’t worth the effort, so I turned away to stare out the window again.

The scenery far below prompted me to recount a piece of trivia I’d learnt long ago.

“Hey, Erina. Did you know that water landings are the safest?”

“Thank you for mentioning that,” she replied through clenched teeth.

“Well, you’re out of luck.” I pointed down at the city. “We’re over Ar Telica now.”

Indeed, beneath the VTOL, the roofs of the megascrapers seemed close enough to touch.

Seeing Erina’s sour expression, I mimed the VTOL falling to the ground like a wounded bird, and then exploding violently in a mushroom cloud…which is something a wounded bird wouldn’t do. However, that’s beside the point.

“You’re out of luck as well,” Erina remarked.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not. Have you forgotten? Mirai has wings, but you don’t—”

Oops!

As soon as I said it, I regretted it.

That was because Erina’s sour expression turned thoughtful, and to my chagrin, she appeared to forget all about her fears of dying in a fiery crash.

Bravo, Isabel. Bravo! That really worked out well!

Erina continued to contemplate me in silence for a while longer before giving Pearson a sidelong look. “What did the data reveal?”

Twisted minds must think alike because Pearson appeared to immediately understand what Erina was asking about.

“Nothing,” she answered and gently shook her head. “It’s as though it never happened.”

“Then what did we see?” Erina questioned her. “That wasn’t an illusion. Those were wings that enveloped her body.”

“She has no additional musculature in that region. Nothing to suggest that she could spontaneously grow a pair of wings out of her back. However, I can’t deny that something inexplicable took place.” Pearson hesitated as she took a breath. “But there is one thing we need to consider. Those wings were black. Not white.”

Erina nodded slowly. “Yes, they were….”

The silence that fell between them was like a curtain being drawn across the cabin, separating them from me.

However, that curtain of silence was brusquely thrown aside when the Cat Princess rather flippantly said, “Why don’t we push her out the door? Let’s see if she can really fly.”

Erina and Pearson appeared nonplussed by her suggestion, but after sharing another silent look, they turned to face me.

“Well?” Erina asked.

“Well, what?” I asked back.

“Care to give it a try?”

For a second, I doubted Mirai’s hearing. “Are you serious?”

“If your life is indeed in danger, then maybe we can trigger the same response as back then.”

I hated to admit it, but she had a point.

If the mysterious black Angel Wings believed I was in mortal danger, perhaps they would protect me like they had when I fought the Gun Queen of Ar Telica. If not for their intervention, that last explosion would have roasted me alive. However, I wasn’t chuffed about testing the notion solo, so I held out my right hand to Erina.

“Care to test that theory with me?”

“You’re a big girl. You can jump out on your own.”

I clamped my mouth shut as I wondered if she was being serious or not. This made me recognize the need to consider the situation carefully, and that meant I needed time to think it through.

Well, here goes, I thought to myself, then focused on overclocking my mind.

The problem was that I didn’t know how to trigger an overclocked state. On previous occasions it was something that simply happened in response to external stimuli, so how was I to trigger it now?

Looking down at the city scenery below, I forcefully imagined it slowing down but that had no effect on my mental clock speed.

Damn it—overclock. Overclock. Overclock!

Time continued striding forward at its normal pace.

I wondered if holding my breath would help.

Or perhaps I should find something else to focus on and throw all my concentration at it.

However, I soon admitted defeat.

Ah Hell! Fine! Better luck next time!

I wasn’t going to get those seconds back, and being eyeballed by Erina, Pearson, and the Cat Princess was making me feel claustrophobic.

Do they really need to stare at me so hard?

Ignoring them was impossible, but I tried nonetheless as I studied the buildings below the VTOL.

Ar Telica’s megascrapers had a large footprint at street level, but due to their pyramidal nature, their roofs weren’t as wide. That said, many of the buildings had very steep sides, so there wasn’t much difference in surface area between the ground and top floors. This improved my chances of landing on a building, rather than falling into the crevice between them.

I then considered the buildings ahead of us.

If the VTOL kept this course for another twenty odd seconds, we’d overfly a large megascraper with an Olympic sized pool on its roof. In the event Mirai didn’t sprout wings, perhaps I could live through a water landing. Improving my chances of survival was the fact that the VTOL had reduced its airspeed, probably adhering to some safety regulation when overflying a population center. However, not knowing the VTOL’s flight path presented a problem, especially if the craft banked away before it overflew that immense building with the pool. But if it held its course, then maybe – just maybe – I could splashdown safely.

Inhaling quickly, I made my decision.

“Fine.”

I unbuckled my belt then scooted to the edge of the seat to reach out for the door handle.

Glancing at Erina, I gave her a tight nod. “I’m game.”

Her eyes grew wide and she started to protest, but she was cut off by the Cat Princess.

“Get back in your seat, brat.” The mechanical girl unholstered her gun and aimed it at me. “And buckle up your belt.”

My attention was divided between her gun and the building with the Olympic pool. “This was your suggestion,” I reminded her.

“I was kidding. Now sit back.” She motioned me with the gun. “I ain’t got all night, brat.”

The VTOL would be over the building in a few seconds, so I squeezed the door handle to trigger the release mechanism, but when I tugged back on the door, it refused to slide open. I had expected as much, since there was a red light, not a green light, surrounding the door’s handle.

The Cat Princess sounded annoyed. “I’m not going to tell you again. Sit back and buckle up.”

I didn’t move.

Keeping my left hand on the handle, I continued to watch the Cat Princess and the building.

Seated to my right, she held the gun in her right hand and close to her chest. That made it harder for me to reach out and slap it away. But even if I could, there was the problem of having the gun accidentally fire. At best, the bullet would penetrate the fuselage and cause a minor decompression. At worst it would ricochet within the cabin and hit someone. I had no intention of being shot, and I wasn’t coldhearted enough to risk injury to Erina and Pearson – well, maybe Erina – so I had little choice but to comply.

And yet, I stubbornly refused to move as I met the Cat Princess’s glare.

“You shoot that thing in here, and there will be blood,” I told her.

Despite being a machine, the Cat Princess snorted in a very humanly fashion. “Relax. The bullets are electroshock rounds. They won’t kill you.”

That depended on whether she intended to turn me into a pincushion or not.

Electroshock rounds were shaped like short fat darts resembling the rocket ships from the silver screen of yesteryear. The kind that Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon would fly around in. Hence, they weren’t likely to penetrate the inner fuselage or bounce around. But an electroshock round discharging into the cabin was likely to cause a system failure or two within the VTOL.

Since we were flying thousands of feet above sea level, that wasn’t a good thing.

Unsurprisingly, I questioned the woman’s intelligence.

She’s a frekking idiot.

While arriving at that conclusion, I noticed the building with the pool disappear behind the VTOL. There was no longer any reason for me to jump out, so I calmly released the door handle and sat back in the seat.

Well, that’s that.

Erina cleared her throat audibly and then broke her silence. “Isabel, did you think I was being serious?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t tell.” After a bit of thought, I added, “But I’m inclined to think that you were.”

Hearing that seemed to wound her, and she grimaced ever so faintly.

“Have a little faith in me,” she said. “I have no intention of putting you in harm’s way.”

It was the perfect opportunity to remind her that I was an unwilling participant in the Gun Princess Royale. However, I chose not to because Erina would undoubtedly blame the Empress for my inclusion into the championship. Since I’d heard it before, I had no interest in listening to her sound like a broken record. Because of that, I turned my ire on the Cat Princess who continued holding me at gunpoint.

“I’ve got one question for you,” I said to her.

“And what would that be?”

“Are you a guy or a girl?”

The Cat Princess froze. “Huh?”

“Are you a guy or a girl at the remote controls?”

Her eyes quickly widened in understanding. “Why the Hell are you asking me that?”

I shrugged lightly. “I’ve heard it’s common for male gamers to play with female avatars.”

Her mouth fell open in a very humanly way.

I finished off by asking, “Well? What are you? A man or a woman?”

Quietly closing her mouth, her expression darkened as she resumed glaring at me. When she took a deep, noisy breath through her nose, I could certainly see her chest swell up, so it made me wonder about her design. Was she a kind of infiltration model designed to pass as human? Why make something like her?

After another loud breath, she replied in a testy tone, “I’m a girl. Okay. You got that?”

“Prove it.”

The Cat Princess gave me a dumbfounded look before growing visibly angry.

Again, her reaction made it hard to believe that she was a machine, and not a young woman of flesh and blood.

“My name is Akane Straus. I’m a girl. In fact, I’m twenty-six years old. So you should be showing your elder some respect.”

“Twenty-six?” I frowned deeply at her. “Aren’t you a bit old to be calling yourself a girl?”

“What?”

“Never mind,” I muttered and dismissed her with a flippant wave.

“Hey, show me some respect,” she demanded but my attention had settled on Erina who was giving me an exhausted look.

“Got something to say?” I asked her in a challenging manner.

Erina closed her eyes and began rubbing her temples in silence.

Sitting beside her, Pearson had a puzzled frown crinkling her brow. While watching me, she half turned to Erina and cautiously asked, “I’m starting to wonder if the transfer worked. Perhaps the data was corrupted along the way.”

Erina rubbed her temples faster. “No, it worked….”

Pearson glanced at her, unconvinced. “Are you sure? Maybe I should review the data again—”

“It worked, Umi. It worked.”

“But I thought your brother was more—”

“More what?” Erina stopped rubbing her temples. “More what, Umi?”

Pearson inhaled deeply before releasing it in a rush. “I thought he was more compliant.”

Slowly opening her eyes, Erina gave Pearson a troubled look. “Compliant?”

The young woman nodded. “Yes.”

For a while, they regarded each other in silence, one looking anxious, the other thoughtful.

Eventually, Erina turned to stare at me. “Could it be…?” she whispered.

Pearson gently sighed. “Yes, something’s wrong.”

I couldn’t contain myself as my self-restraint snapped. “Hey, Glasses, of course something’s wrong! I’m a guy in a girl’s body all because of you and this megalomaniac.” I pointed accusingly at my sister.

Erina gave me a disapproving frown. “I am not obsessed with power.”

“Oh, really? From rags to riches, huh, Sis?”

My sister’s expression grew hard and sharp. “That’s enough.”

I crossed my arms, fully aware that doing so pushed up Mirai’s big breasts. “So, when do I get to meet this rich fiancé of yours?”

“When you learn to behave,” Erina curtly replied.

“Better make sure you put me in a lion’s cage, or you never know what might happen when I see him.”

I made clawing gestures at her before folding my arms again.

The Cat Princess snorted rudely. “Eri, put me in a cage with her. I’ll pull out her claws.”

“Why wait for a cage?” I retorted. “I’ll take you on here and now.”

She aimed her gun at me, frustratingly out of my reach. “And now the safety comes off.”

“Enough!” Erina yelled. “The two of you are seriously—!”

A frightened gasp burst out of her lungs as the VTOL bounced on touchdown.

Once again pale as snow, Erina clutched her armrest as the pilot reported, “Doctor Kassius, we’ve arrived.”

Briefly ignoring my travelling companions, I looked out the window and saw that the VTOL was resting on a landing platform atop a megascraper.

However, I had no idea where we were.

Obviously, this was Ar Telica, but which Habitation Ring and which district?

While I was wondering that, Erina had grabbed her head in her hands and sat motionless as though trying to compose herself.

Pearson sighed loud enough to be heard, then gently patted Erina’s back. “It’s all over now. We’re safe and sound.”

Annoyed, Erina scowled at her. “Umi!”

While watching them out of the corner my eye, I also watched a large, burly man wearing a ground crew jacket with fluorescent stripes approach the VTOL.

He quickly climbed up the steps to the craft, then slid open the cabin door beside Erina and I.

“Good morning, ladies. I trust you had a—” He stopped and stared at the four of us inside the cabin, particularly at Erina who was glaring while clutching her head. “Are you alright, Miss?”

Erina seemed to realize what she was doing.

Wiping the scowl from her face, she lowered her hands to her lap, then calmly asked, “Could you give us a moment?”

The man blinked erratically before eventually nodding. “As you wish, Miss—ah, but please be aware that we have another flight inbound. So please don’t take too long.”

Erina’s smile seemed exaggerated as though she’d simply meant to smile but ended up applying to much force behind it. “Thank you. This will only take a moment.”

The burly fellow sounded uncertain. “Ah, as you wish….”

He visibly hesitated before sliding the cabin door shut.

Through the window, I watched him descend the boarding steps. He walked away from the VTOL and met with his coworkers out on the landing platform. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their body language told me they were unhappy with the delay. Then I saw them joined by three young women of average height dressed in dark clothing – heeled boots, tight pants, black bomber jackets. They walked with measured strides and an uncanny economy of motion. Not machine like, but fluid and efficient.

The woman leading them drew my eye.

She was slender and wore her long hair in a ponytail that was blown about by the strong wind gusting over the landing platform. Maybe it was because of the surrounding floodlights, but I had the impression her dark hair had a bluish tint to it.

The crewmen tensed when she approached them, and after trading words with her, the burly man pointed in the direction of the VTOL’s cabin.

As she turned toward the craft, her face came into the light.

She was pretty – a real head turner – but that wasn’t what made my heart jump.

It was because our eyes met.

I knew that the cabin’s windows were designed to prevent outsiders from looking in, and yet I was utterly convinced she knew exactly where I was seated. More troubling, it implied that she’d deliberately sought me out with her eyes.

Did she ask the ground crew about me?

Captured by her gaze, I struggled to break free. But when I succeeded, I ended up facing the interior of the cabin where Erina was once again cradling her head.

Pearson resumed patting my sister’s back. “Eri? Are you all right?”

“Do I look all right?” my sister mumbled as she stared at the cabin floor.

“I’ll admit the flight was rough—”

“The flight?” Erina swiftly raised her head and stared at Pearson in disbelief. “You think the flight did this to me?”

Pearson searched Erina’s face for a long while, then glanced at the Cat Princess and I before giving her a weak, uncertain smile. “What if you think of them this way?”

“What way?”

“Think of them as two teenage girls who need parental guidance.”

Erina’s eyes narrowed into thin slights. “Then do you want to take over?”

Pearson visibly flinched. “Um…you know that I have trouble with children. I can barely handle my nieces and they’re not even teenagers yet.”

“Yes, I’ve seen how they run circles around you.”

She flinched again but then brightened as she struck upon an idea. “Why don’t we hand them over to Celeste? She’s good with mind games. I’m sure she can tame them.”

I butted in to ask, “Who’s Celeste?”

Erina glanced at me and replied, “You’ll meet her soon enough.”

“Ah huh. And what if I don’t want to?”

The Cat Princess had been quiet for an inordinate length of time, but unfortunately that ended when she angrily exclaimed, “Why the Hell are you treating me like her? I’m not a kid, damn it!”

Erina’s attention swung onto her. “Not a kid? Not a kid? Are you serious? Can you even hear yourself now?”

“Hey—!”

“Akane, you sound like a petulant little child! For the love of the gods, act your damn age! You’re the leader of Team Novis. How the Hell do you expect to take charge if you can’t control yourself? You’re acting like you used to back in high school after you lost your—”

Erina abruptly stopped and grew pale.

At that moment, I wondered if I’d almost heard something I wasn’t supposed to.

With that in mind, I peeked out the corner of my eye at the Cat Princess.

She wore a wounded look, yet after schooling her expression, she meekly nodded. “…fine, I get it….”

The strained, awkward atmosphere between them wasn’t lost on me.

It was indeed worthy of exploring, but I would have to wait because Erina then turned her sights on me.

“I will box you. Is that clear?” she said in cold tone that instantly rubbed me the wrong way.

“Box me?” I asked her with freshly simmering anger.

“I don’t care what happens. I don’t care how hard it makes things for you or anyone else—including me. But if you don’t behave, I swear to the gods I will box you. And you know what that will mean for you….”

Her voice trailed away as though carried off by a cold wind, and my anger cooled a little as I suspected her threat was real.

I imagined Ghost shaking his head at me, reminding me not to be foolish. For that matter, I hadn’t heard a peep from him. However, leaving him aside, I decided to swallow down my anger.

“Fine,” I muttered. “I’ll behave. For now—”

“Not for now!” Erina shouted. “Forever! Do you hear me! You will learn to act your age and behave like a lady of proper standing. Is that clear!”

I frowned at my sister who was trembling with overflowing rage because I couldn’t remember ever seeing her this furious. However, I just couldn’t stop from pointing out, “Proper standing? Me? Are you frekking serious—?”

“Isabel!”

“Okay. Okay.” I threw up my hands in surrender. “I get it. I’ll be good. For now.”

“Isabel!”

“For now!” I yelled back at her with sudden, barely restrained fury.

Pearson gasped and her eyes suddenly widened to the size of platters. “Oh, my gods!”

Her startled reaction cut through my anger, and I stared at her in confusion, wondering why she was gaping at me until I noticed the dark locks of hair framing my face.

I changed again?

Pearson palmed her chest, but the shock she’d demonstrated quickly turned to curiosity. “Is that it?” She didn’t dare take her eyes off me as she nudged at Erina’s left shoulder with a hand. “Eri, I know you asked me to look into it, but you never told me it was like this.” Her gaze grew more intense. “It’s amazing. It’s a like chameleon’s defensive response.”

At first, I was annoyed she was comparing me to a lizard, but then I realized her analogy was wrong.

Whenever I transformed, my senses sharpened, and I could see with unparalleled clarity. I could also see the lifeforce radiating from living entities, such as the golden aura that surrounded Erina and Pearson. However, the way my senses levelled up didn’t feel like a defensive response. Rather, it felt like Mirai was readying herself for battle – jumping to Red Alert or Condition One.

That was my take on Mirai’s transformation, but I chose to keep it to myself.

Let her think what she wants, I decided inwardly.

Pursing my lips, I quietly weathered the silent scrutiny from Erina and Pearson.

As for the Cat Princess, she was watching me intently with gun in hand, though oddly, she wasn’t aiming it my way.

It did make me wonder what she was thinking.

Meanwhile, Pearson’s gaze had started roaming over me. “What do you think, Eri?”

Erina was staring at me with concern. “I don’t know. I don’t know what that is. For all we know, it could be a dark side of her personality manifesting itself.”

“A dark side?” Pearson whispered, then her eyes brightened with a sudden passion that made me glare at her. “We need to examine her immediately.” Catching my glare, she hesitated before weakly asking Erina, “Do you think she’ll co-operate?”

“Co-operate?” It took a few moments for Erina to realize what Pearson was asking her. Then with a heavy sigh, she shook her head. “We’re not examining her now. Later, but not now.”

They were discussing me like a science project, and it was stirring up a fresh batch of anger within me. Thus distracted, I failed to notice that someone had come up to the cabin door until it was shoved open with a loud bang.

Mirai had already levelled up, but now she instantly overclocked.

I couldn’t help feeling a tad resentful.

When I needed her to speed up her brain, she’d stubbornly refused me.

That said, overclocking gave me time to evaluate the situation.

First, I realized the door had been slammed aside by the girl with the long ponytail who was now standing on the top step outside the VTOL’s cabin.

Secondly, and more importantly, overclocking allowed me to restrain Mirai’s reflexive impulse to lash out after being taken by surprise. If I hadn’t held her back, a single powerful kick from Mirai would have sent the young woman flying through the air.

Seemingly oblivious to all this, the girl swept her gaze over the cabin’s occupants.

Under the cabin lights, I saw that her hair did indeed have a blue sheen to it. She was also a lot prettier up close, but her expression was so stern that it detracted from her beauty.

After giving Pearson and the Cat Princess a cursory look – though she did seem to notice the latter’s gun – she turned her attention upon me.

As our eyes met, a faint shiver ran through me.

It was most puzzling.

I wasn’t afraid of this young woman, and I didn’t feel drawn to her either, but then I was even more confused when realizing that shiver had come Mirai.

However, I didn’t get to dwell on it.

The brunette – or should I say blue-nette – regarded me for a second or two, before addressing Erina in a cold tone that put my sister’s best to shame.

“Doctor Kassius, is there a problem?”

Seriously, she sounded so cold she frosted the air inside the cabin.

I glimpsed Erina stiffen as she stared back at the young woman. “Excuse me?”

“I asked, is there a problem, Doctor?”

Listening to her, I truly believed she held Erina in respectful contempt.

I looked over at my sister who returned the contempt with faintly veiled disdain. “If there’s a problem, I’ll let you know.”

“Then if there’s no problem would you care to disembark? There’s another flight coming in and you’re hogging the landing pad.”

She didn’t wait for Erina to reply.

Turning with eye tricking speed that made her ponytail scythe through the air like a scimitar, the young woman jumped down from the boarding steps, and then calmly walked away with a sexy, feline grace.

I stared at her retreating back in genuine awe.

Wow. Who the Hell is she?

Despite the wind and the sounds of the city drifting into the cabin, I nonetheless heard Erina swear under her breath.

“…bitch….”

However, that wasn’t all. The Cat Princess sounded clearly unnerved when she muttered, “Shit, I didn’t know she’d be here….”

My gaze followed the woman with the ponytail as she walked across the landing platform toward a plush waiting lounge enclosed in a transparent permaglass shell.

The golden aura surrounding her body told me she was human, unlike the orange aura of the two girls who joined her inside the enclosure, and judging by her countenance, she seemed to be someone in authority with little respect for Erina.

All this piqued my interest in her even more.

However, I didn’t get the chance to ask because the burly ground crewman who’d first opened the door once again climbed up to the VTOL’s cabin. This time he leaned in, and his voice carried a hint of urgency.

“Miss, I’m sorry for rushing you but we really need to clear the pad.”

Erina’s shoulders rose and fell heavily as she sighed deeply, then nodded equally so. “Yes, we understand. My apologies.”

The crewman pushed the door aside the rest of the way, fully exposing the cabin’s flank. Erina was then the first to alight from the VTOL, and she graciously accepted the man’s helping hand as she descended the handful of steps to the landing platform.

I waved off his help when I followed Erina out of the cabin.

The Cat Princess climbed out close behind me, with Pearson bringing up the rear.

There were other ground crew on the platform. Both politely and urgently, they ushered us away from the parked VTOL to the enclosed waiting lounge that occupied a corner of the landing pad.

The two Simulacra women who’d joined the girl with the ponytail were waiting for us outside the entrance like sentries on guard duty.

However, there was no sign of the human girl.

Through the lounge’s transparent walls, I could see it was deserted, so perhaps she had entered the megascraper through the connecting permaglass tunnel. But not knowing where she was, coupled with Mirai’s puzzling reaction to her, now made me distinctly uneasy.

I decided to be on guard.

That is to say, I decided to be a little extra wary of my surroundings.

The Simulacra women silently followed our group into the lounge after which they kept their distance while watching me with unreadable expressions.

I stared back at them, studying their appearance.

Aside from dressing alike, both women wore their dark brown hair at shoulder length.

They appeared to be in their early twenties but were undoubtedly much younger since Erina had once told me that Simulacra had short lifespans.

I also noticed the sisterly resemblance between them.

Did that imply they were from the same production batch?

I knew nothing about how Simulacra were produced, so I decided to ask Ghost about that later.

For now, I chose to see just how approachable they were.

Cocking my head at them, I cleared my throat before asking, “Where’s the other one?” Waving a hand behind my head, I added, “The girl with the ponytail. Is she your boss? Where did she go?”

My questions were met with stony silence.

I smiled thinly as I wet my lips, then smoothly turned Mirai’s body toward them.

“You know…it’s rude not to answer a lady.”

Their stance shifted a second later. A distinct readiness to move in a heartbeat seemed to flow through them. However, something flowed through Mirai as well – an eagerness to do battle – and for a heartbeat, I found it distracting.

Strange…I don’t think I’ve felt this from her before…why now?

“Isabel.” Erina’s voice called out to me from nearby. “Stop antagonizing them.”

I angled my head slightly to peer at her out of the corner of my eye. “Rudeness begets rudeness—”

I was cut off by a low-pitched roar that rumbled through the air and rushed into the waiting lounge through the open doors. It was silenced when the doors closed, but by then I’d turned to watch the moth-shaped VTOL out on the landing pad.

The craft angled its levitator fins downward, revved up its engines further which caused the permaglass walls of the lounge to vibrate faintly, then smoothly bounded into the air. Once airborne, the VTOL spread its fins wide and gracefully banked southward while continuing to accelerate away from the building.

As my gaze followed it across the sky, I ended up looking out over the city, and for a short while I forgot about the insolent Simulacra women as I was once again swept up in the magnificent vista before me.

Not counting the recent scenic flight aboard the VTOL, and the few occasions I’d visited Ar Telica Tower’s observation deck, it was rare for me to see the city from this height.

Nor was the view from my dormitory as grand as what I now beheld.

From its vantage on a corner of the landing pad, the waiting lounge treated me to the resplendent panorama of Ar Telica at midnight.

Oh…wow….

While a majority of the city’s buildings were steep sided pyramids with flat tops, a great many were towering, knife-like megascrapers with permaglass exteriors. Others resembled giant spinnakers made of glass. The variety didn’t stop there and when combined with the clarity with which Mirai saw the world, the diverse architecture made for an eclectic skyline that was brilliant and mesmerizing.

I swallowed distractedly, consumed by the spectacle of buildings and lights before me.

However, after quietly basking in the city’s beauty for a short while, I came to my senses and asked myself a very important question.

Where the Hell am I?

The building appeared to be located close to the harbor’s shoreline. Therefore, we were somewhere in the city’s Ring Zero, with the harbor waters to the east, and a thousand more megascrapers to the north, south, and west.

Looking eastward over the harbor, I saw the city lights undulating with the waves, and my gaze travelled along the bridge connecting the shore to Telos Island. Shrunk by distance, the academy’s buildings resembled miniatures illuminated by tiny rooftop floodlights.

To be honest, I was tired of seeing the school by night.

It did nothing but stir up unpleasant memories that soured my feelings from corner to corner.

In short, the city lost its sparkle after I laid eyes on Telos Academy.

Feeling robbed, I turned around and found myself looking at the enormous building the VTOL had delivered us to.

From what I could see through the lounge’s transparent canopy, the megascraper was an octagonal, steep sided pyramid with an Aztec flair. Given the average height of the buildings around us, it was probably around two hundred stories high. If this was a residential complex, then I assumed the top floors would be home to palatial apartments, far, far larger than the rudimentary, yet cozy apartment I used to share with Erina when we were younger.

Remembering those simpler times, nostalgia pricked at my heart, and I unintentionally met my sister’s gaze.

Erina was watching me in studious silence.

I stared back without flinching, but I grew bitter and resentful the longer I looked at her.

I was on the verge of turning away when Erina calmly beckoned me to follow her. The casual gesture irritated me, and I momentarily considered making a run for it, but how far would I get? Thus with little recourse, I unwillingly fell into step behind her and Pearson as they walked through waiting lounge to a tunnel that connected it to the megascraper.

Sensing the Cat Princess slip in behind me, I felt a little crowded, so I threw her a warning over a shoulder. “Wanna give me a little room?”

She warned me in reply. “Why? Are you thinking of running away?”

I snickered at her. “What? You gonna miss me if I do?”

Glancing behind her, I saw the two Simulacra women trailing closely at the rear of the procession.

I really don’t like those two, I decided, then once more uneasily wondered where the young woman with the ponytail had ventured off to.

Addressing the Cat Princess, I bluntly asked her, “Who was that chick with the ponytail?”

“That chick?” She narrowed her eyes at me in reproach. “Have you forgotten that you’re a chick too? Show a little respect.”

“Yeah, whatever. So do you know her or not?”

“If you’re going to ask me something, say the magic word,” she snapped.

“The magic word? Oh, right.” I stopped walking, then turned around to face her. “Do you know her or not, Bitch?”

A pair of feline ears suddenly popped up on her head.

I was faintly surprised to realize she’d been hiding them within her long platinum hair. It certainly explained why the ground crewmen hadn’t noticed her cat ears when she stepped down from the VTOL. Then again, they could have assumed she was wearing a cosplay headband.

For a long while the Cat Princess stood completely still, except for her ears twitching madly as she glowered at me, but then she whipped out her gun in the blink of an eye.

I wasn’t conscious of overclocking of my own volition – especially since I didn’t know how to trigger it – so I assumed it was Mirai who shunted my awareness into an accelerated state. But now that I was overclocked, I watched in slow motion as the Cat Princess levelled the gun at my face.

A split second later, the two Simulacra women behind her stepped apart. Giving themselves room, they reached behind their backs and retrieved small handguns that they swiftly aimed my way, yet like the Cat Princess, their movements appeared sluggish to me.

In any case, whether slow or not, I soon had three guns pointed at me.

The ball was now in my court, so what was I to do?

Wisecrack, of course.

I grinned at the glowering Cat Princess. “You know, all this attention is making me blush.”

“Really? It’s hard to tell since I’m seeing red right now.”

“Oh, shucks. Did I get to you?”

She lowered the gun slightly to point the muzzle at my throat. “They say people turn blue when they can’t breathe. Let’s see what color you turn.”

“Isabel! Akane! That’s enough.” Erina’s voice cut sharply through the air. When neither of us moved, she heatedly shouted, “I said that’s enough!”

From the sound of her voice, I placed Erina at ten or twelve feet away to my seven o’clock. Being able to do so wasn’t something I was accustomed to, but I didn’t have the luxury to explore this talent further – at least not for the moment – because my attention was squarely centered on the Cat Princess while acutely aware of the two women behind her.

As I stared back at the mechanical girl, I pondered the likelihood of taking her down.

Not a chance.

I arrived at that dismal conclusion in a heartbeat.

Taking on the Cat Princess was one thing, but I suspected the two Simulacra women wouldn’t hesitate to open fire on both of us, and I had no idea what type of ammo was loaded into their guns. Maybe I could use the Cat Princess as a shield, but that was unlikely unless I could I overpower her.

Nope. Not a chance.

I will admit that without the Princess Regalia, I felt rather naked in this situation.

I also wondered if I’d pushed things a little too far.

I was willing to retreat, but unwilling to show weakness in front of the Cat Princess or the two Simulacra women seemingly backing her up.

With a faint chuckle, I slowly retreated a step while coolly raising my hands in surrender. “I’ll give you this round, Kitty Cat.”

“You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?” she remarked, the glare on her face undiminished.

“Isabel,” Erina called out to me. “Walk away now.”

Turning my back on someone pointing a gun at me – let alone three people – was not something I was willing to do, and the faint tingling sensation between my shoulder blades made me suspect that Mirai was of the same mind. Hence, after backing away another small step, I came to a stop. “That’s not happening until they put their guns away.”

The Cat Princess’s gaze flicked over my right shoulder, undoubtedly glancing at Erina standing a short distance behind me.

“Akane.” Erina sounded as though her patience had worn thin. “Don’t debase yourself. You’re better than her.”

Ouch, I winced inwardly. I’ll make you regret that since you made me this way, you conniving bitch.

After hesitating for a couple of seconds, the Cat Princess lowered her gun a few inches, pointing it at my chest this time. “Maybe I should shoot you anyway. Just to see how many shock rounds you can take before you pass out. I think that’ll be good to now. Don’t you agree, Erina?”

I started to retort with another wisecrack, but then swallowed it down when it became apparent that she wasn’t kidding.

She really was intent on shooting me.

In that moment, I dropped my confident façade.

Hardening my gaze, I stared straight into her lifelike eyes and met her threat with a threat of my own.

“You shoot me and I’ll make you regret it. I’ll find the real you, and I’ll repay you in kind.” I took a long step closer to her. It was a risk, but I took it nonetheless. “So if you’re going to point a gun at me, think it over.”

Beside and behind her, the two Simulacra women raised their weapons a little higher, and I tensed up in anticipation. Mirai’s abnormally wide field-of-vision allowed me to see them clearly without having to shift my gaze away from the Cat Princess. It also allowed me to give the impression that I was ignoring them, though that was quite far from the truth. However, I’d proverbially locked horns with the Cat Princess, and I wasn’t going to back down. So for a long, long while neither one of us gave away an inch as we glared at each other in silence.

“You’ll find the real me?” she asked before nodding faintly as though half to herself. “I’ll keep that mind.”

I kept my breathing steady as I waited for her to make her move.

Having a gun pointed at my chest from a foot away, all my senses were balanced on a razor’s edge, and Mirai’s body felt like a coil ready to spring at the drop of a pin. I’d already decided that I would slap the gun aside, but the problem was what to do about the two Simulacra women. Not knowing their specs – what they were physically capable of – made it hard to plan a contingency against them.

In short, they were an unknown that really put me on my back foot.

A sudden soft click reached my ears but not before I saw the Cat Princess flick her gun’s safety upwards.

Truthfully, I only noticed it because of Mirai’s preternaturally sharp vision.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t certain if the safety was On because different guns had different thinking behind their designs. For some, it was up, while for others it was down. Thus, I decided to play it cool and continued eyeballing the Cat Princess as though nothing had changed. However, because I was staring at her so hard, I saw something about her avatar that took me by surprise.

It wasn’t that she was breathing.

No, it was the fact that she was moving.

No matter how skilled or trained, no one can remain perfectly still. Muscles are constantly expanding and contracting, our hearts are beating, and the flow of blood within our bodies adds to a cyclical rhythm of movement. In other words, even if we try to stay completely motionless while holding our breaths, we are still moving minutely.

A machine should be different.

Turn off the engine. Switch off the power. Lock all the servos. No movement. But that wasn’t the case for the Cat Princess, and I found this fascinating, disturbing, and ultimately distracting because I was late to notice that she was grinning at me.

“You bring out the worst in me,” she muttered with forced cheer. “You bring out the worst in everyone.”

A couple of seconds later, she smoothly holstered the gun within the folds of her jacket.

I felt like punching her across the lounge for that remark.

Some people won’t recognize they’re part of the problem – or the problem – even if it was beaten into them. The Cat Princess, Erina, Pearson – that’s the sort of people they were. In their minds, I was the root of their troubles and no amount of convincing would make them understand otherwise. It frustrated and sickened me, and it took a fair amount of willpower not to clench my hands into a fist and sock her under her chin.

The only thing holding me back were the two guns that remained pointed at me.

Yet while they may have stopped me from striking the Cat Princess, they failed to keep my mouth shut.

“Then we’re two peas in a pod,” I quipped while icily grinning back at her, “since you bring out the worst in me too.”

Maybe she read the silent rage I was projecting behind my grin, because she snorted softly at me. Jerking her chin in the direction behind me, she bluntly commanded, “Get moving. We don’t have all morning.”

I shook my head slowly, and for the first time in a long while, I pointedly looked at the two women targeting me. “I’m not moving until they—”

At that moment, they both cocked their heads in unison.

It was a slight movement, one that Ronin’s eyes would have missed. However, Mirai’s keen vision caught it, and shortly afterwards I watched them holster their weapons behind their backs.

Are they communication with each other…or with someone else?

If it was the latter, then could it be the young woman with the ponytail? If so, then it implied I was being watched.

Slowly turning in a half circle, I looked around in the interior of the waiting lounge.

If she was using thermoptic gear, like the Cat Princess had employed back on the island and aboard the rescue ship, then she would be almost invisible to me until she chose to move. That was because thermoptic camouflage worked great when you were still, but not so great when you were in motion. That said, she wouldn’t be able to hide her radiant aura from Mirai, and after sweeping my gaze cautiously over my surroundings, I failed to see any hint of her lifeforce.

Realizing I should have done that first, I chided myself for being so shortsighted.

My failing left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Swallowing it down, I hid my feelings from the Cat Princess behind a thin, taunting smile, then quickly switched to an innocent expression as I turned around to face Erina.

“Well?” I asked her. “Lead the way.”

The look on her face said it all.

Had I been standing within arm’s reach, I was certain that Erina would have slapped me.

---

Thank you for getting this far.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The new "The Gun Princess Royale" will hopefully be release on Amazon Kindle as an eBook in August, 2023.
It all depends on what issues my editor friend finds with the story.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

---

The landing platform was located on a corner of the octagonal megascraper, but not at the top.

Looking up through the lounge’s transparent ceiling, I could see another thirty odd floors of the massive building looming over me.

I figured those floors were home to the palatial apartments that commonly occupied the highest tiers of Ar Telica’s residential buildings.

With the Cat Princess glowering at me from behind, I followed my sister and Pearson out of the waiting lounge, through a connecting tunnel, and then into the innards of the apartment complex. After a short walk down an opulent hallway, we arrived at a bank of elevators. However, Erina continued leading us deeper into the building until we stopped at a second elevator bank. Unsurprisingly, rather than heading down into the depths of the megascraper, we crowded into a life car and rode it up.

After my not so private tête-â-tête with the Cat Princess the mood between us was tangibly fouler so when she bumped into me, I reflexively shoved her away.

“Hey!” she yelled as she caught her footing.

“Learn to drive that metal bitch,” I yelled back.

“I’m gonna drive this metal bitch right up your ass!”

She started reaching for her stun baton, and I readied myself to grapple with her.

Unsurprisingly, the two Simulacra sisters made a move for their guns.

But all this came to a halt when Erina loudly slapped the wall beside her. “Will the two of you shut up?” She pointed at the silent sisters who had stopped reaching for their guns. “Why can’t you be more like them?”

The Cat Princess and I studied the Simulacra women for a second, then replied in unison, “Hell no!”

Pearson bit her lower lip then nervously smiled at Erina. “Children these days.”

Erina’s face contorted as though she took umbrage at the remark.

“What are you talking about?” She pointed at me. “That one’s a child.” She pointed at the Cat Princess. “But that one’s a grown woman!”

Eyeing us askance, Pearson appeared unconvinced. “How can you tell?”

Exasperated, Erina threw her hands up into the air. “Oh, come on, Umi! Not you as well.”

“I’m just saying that they’re more like rival classmates. Don’t you agree?”

I was ready to deny the observation when a sudden slap made me flinch on the spot.

The Cat Princess had jerked upright and slapped her forehead.

Oddly, it didn’t sound like metal on metal, but flesh on flesh.

However, I didn’t have time to mull that over because the mechanical avatar started trembling with laughter. Then she covered her eyes as her laughter grew louder.

I had no idea what had brought this about, and by the looks of it neither did Erina or Pearson. For that matter, even the Simulacra Sisters were regarding the Cat Princess with the slightest of curiosity and concern.

As for me, I was growing irritated with every ‘Ha Ha Ha’ that came out of her mouth. The desire to bang her head against the elevator wall was mounting by the millisecond, when she suddenly palmed her forehead instead of her eyes, stopped laughing, and peered at Erina with a somewhat delirious look on her face, yet she spoke in a deathly whisper.

“She’s right, Eri…she’s absolutely right.”

I watched Erina frown in abject confusion, but she was obviously affected by the Cat Princess’s behavior because it took her a while to respond. When she did, she sounded acutely annoyed.

“She’s right about what?”

The Cat Princess chuckled but she sounded pained. “Now I know why she pisses me off so much….”

I cocked my head at her. “Well, let’s hear the grand epiphany you just had.”

She ignored me, prompting me to quietly decide, I am so going to pummel her.

“Eri, you remember her, right?” the mechanical girl asked.

My sister still sounded annoyed, but some of the confusion on her face had seeped into her voice. “Remember who?”

The Cat Princess clenched her hands. “That slut who constantly picked fights with me.”

Curiosity began to get the better of me, and I decided that hitting her could wait for later as the situation was becoming interesting.

Erina sighed wearily. “Akane, a lot of people picked fights with you…and you picked a lot of fights with them too.”

“That’s not fair,” the Cat Princess complained.

“Well, it’s true,” Erina insisted. “Have you forgotten how many times you were summoned to the Vice-Principal’s office?”

The Cat Princess abruptly shuddered from head to toes, then quickly shook her head. “Can we not talk about that?”

I too almost shuddered when I remembered my own unsettling experience with the creepy VP.

I wonder what happened to her—no, I better not ask!

An edge crept into Erina’s voice. “Very well. What do you want to talk about?”

“Not what—who,” the Cat Princess corrected her.

“Who do you want to talk about?”

The machine girl raised a clenched fist. “I told you. That bitch who constantly challenged me. The one who claimed she could beat me at long distance running. Remember? She had the whole team on the fence when she challenged me for the captaincy right before the inter-state competition—and I smoked her ass in the qualifiers!”

I hesitated before asking, “You did what to her ass?”

Again, she ignored me as she stared hard at Erina. “Come on, Eri. Surely you remember her.”

Glancing at my sister, I saw that Erina was having some difficulty recalling the person in question. “You mean…that flat chested girl who stole your boyfriend?”

I distinctly heard something go ‘snap’ right before the Cat Princess went feral.

“Oh—you just had to bring that up!”

“I’m just asking if she’s the one,” Erina hurled back at her.

“Yeah. Her. Cappella Leone.” The Cat Princess punched a fist into an open palm. “That slut.”

I raised a hand and politely cleared my throat with a cough. “For the record, I haven’t stolen your boyfriend, so that’s no reason to hate me.”

She hissed at me like a cat rubbed the wrong way. “You get under my skin just like she does. Your constant needling, heckling, jibing, smart ass remarks. Even the way you stare at me.” She shook all over. “Frek! I knew there was a reason why you pissed me off so much.”

This insight into the Cat Princess further tickled my curiosity. “Can you tell me more about her?”

She froze for a split second before grumbling, “Why the Hell would I?”

“So that I can find out what really ticks you off.”

In a heartbeat, she looked ready claw out my eyes. “There will be blood tonight.”

I frowned at her. “You mean eighteen hours from now?”

Erina suddenly kicked the elevator door with her shoe. “That does it! One more word out of either of you and I’ll have them shoot you both!”

The Cat Princess and I glanced at the silent Simulacra women who stood eerily dispassionate as they watched our raucous antics. That faint curiosity they’d betrayed earlier was like a distant memory. However, I saw that they’d both slipped a hand behind their backs. A memory recalled from Mirai’s vast knowledge base made me suspect that they were wearing hipster holsters, and if their guns were small enough then such holsters could carry two firearms along with spare magazines.

While thinking this, I noticed the Cat Princess regard the Simulacra sisters with an unreadable expression, before silently retreating to the elevator car’s back wall.

That sure as Hell surprised me.

It also made me wonder if there was more to those two women than I’d initially assumed.

Deciding to follow the Cat Princess’s lead, I crossed my arms under Mirai’s breasts, then leaned my back against the rear wall.

Facing the doors, and almost shoulder-to-shoulder with the Cat Princess, we stood in stony silence while the elevator travelled upward. I was relieved when it stopped a couple of seconds later, then opened its doors with a gentle swish to reveal an opulent hallway beyond them.

Erina huffed in frustration and stormed out of the elevator.

Pearson quickly scampered on her heels with a rather jumpy look in her eyes.

I found myself wondering if she was afraid of me or the Cat Princess, so I looked askance at the mechanical girl.

“See what you’ve done?”

“Damn you!”

I hastily ducked when she swung at me and bolted out of the elevator.

She ended up striking the wall behind my head.

Out in the hallway, I wagged a finger at her, then hurried after Erina and Pearson.

It wasn’t long before the Cat Princess chased after me, and the two silent sisters followed in her turbulent wake.

After catching up to Erina and Pearson, we soon arrived at double-doors situated at the end of a hallway. I expected Erina to unlock them with a key or keycard, but instead she touched a security plate affixed to the wall on their right. Mirai’s acute hearing caught the sound of a chime ringing faintly somewhere on the other side of the doors. It wasn’t long before one of them unlocked, then gently eased open.

A young woman in a traditional maid outfit poked her body out into the corridor.

No, no, no—allow me to rephrase that!

A young woman in a traditional French maid’s outfit, with a bodice that clung tightly to her well-endowed chest, poked her body out into the hallway.

Mama Mia, I thought to myself as my eyebrows rose to my hairline.

Heck, even the Cat Princess looked startled at the girl’s appearance when I glanced at her.

At sight of Erina, the young woman opened the door fully, revealing the rest of herself, and I ran my gaze quickly over her short skirt, and shapely legs as she stood perched atop a pair of black high heels. Her long, auburn hair was arranged into a thick braid, and I suspected she was a little older than me, though still in her teenage years. My eyebrows dropped when I found myself wondering if she was a Menial, and perhaps this was all the employment she could find for herself after graduating from second tier education, otherwise known as high school. When I realized what I was thinking, I flinched in shame and quickly averted my gaze.

Who was I to judge her?

I wasn’t even human.

I was a fraud.

But more so, what right did I have to be critical of her?

Yet while I felt contrite over my supercilious thoughts, Erina had no qualms or regrets in regarding the girl as an inconsequence.

“Lady Kassius—” the maid started to say but stopped when my sister angrily stalked past her into the wide hallway beyond the doors.

She would have knocked the girl aside had the maid not jumped out of the way.

Pearson stared pensively at Erina’s back for a few seconds, before throwing me an accusing look, as though blaming me for Erina’s rudeness.

Granted, I was responsible to some degree, but it wasn’t all my fault.

After that silent rebuke, Pearson nodded politely to the maid, then stepped through the open doorway.

I exhaled slowly, aware of the Cat Princess standing close by, and when I glanced at her, I saw the veiled reproach on her face. However, she wasn’t looking at me or the maid. Instead, she was looking in the direction Erina and Pearson had walked off.

I guess she’s not happy with Erina’s attitude either.

However, like Pearson, she quickly turned that expression upon me as she crossed her arms before her chest.

I sighed inwardly.

Okay. Okay. I get it. I did play a hand in stirring up Erina’s foul mood.

Noticing that the maid was anxiously looking at me, I took a quick breath, then entered the hallway. As I stepped past the girl, I bowed my head to her, and offered her a softly spoken apology.

“Sorry. She’s mad at me. Nothing to do with you. Okay?”

The girl blinked quickly, then faintly smiled in relief as she bowed politely in reply.

I felt a little better at that, and I almost smiled back at her, but I had the Cat Princess and the Simulacra sisters waiting behind me. They were like dark clouds waiting to unleash thunder and lightning upon me, thus feeling pressured and resenting them for it, I walked the rest of the way into the hallway.

I quickly realized it wasn’t a hallway, but a spacious anteroom adorned with antique furniture, and artwork that was meaningless to an uncultured proletarian like me. However, there was no sign of Erina and Pearson, so I assumed they’d departed by way of the double-doors located directly opposite to the entrance.

I wonder what those two are discussing in private?

The Cat Princess and the silently threatening sisters followed me into the anteroom. The young maid closed the doors behind them, then hurried over to open the other set of double-doors.

“This way, please,” she indicated as she ushered us down a wide hallway that ended at a luxurious living area.

It was hard not to gape in awe of the apartment.

The living room had a sunken floor at one end that was furnished with sofas, a low table made of thick tinted glass, and a holovid projection system that befit a private cinema. A permaglass window spanned the length of one wall, with doors that slid open before an enormous balcony that was several times larger than my dormitory apartment. An open kitchen area was situated adjacent to the living room, and two hallways led deeper into the apartment, undoubtedly to the bedrooms, guestrooms, bathrooms and so forth. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all painted a light creamy color that matched the soft pile carpet underfoot.

Everything about the place projected luxury, comfort, and convenience. In terms of opulence, the apartment was on par with Mat’s family home in Ring One, District Ten where society’s affluent lived. It was a richness that made me uncomfortable as I slowly walked around the living area, aware that my sister and Pearson were watching me while the Cat Princess openly gawked at the interior of the apartment. As for the maid, she was keeping to herself by standing silently at the entrance to the living room.

However, the Simulacra sisters were nowhere to be seen.

I’d lost track of them when I was caught up in admiring the apartment.

Where the Hell did those two go?

Since I couldn’t see their pale orange auras, I assumed they weren’t hiding in plain sight behind a thermoptic camouflage field. Thus, it was likely they had remained behind in the anteroom.

Not good, I told myself because it meant the way out of the apartment was guarded.

However, while a concern, I had other pressing matters to contend with.

I turned to face my sister who was standing a few meters away. “Is this your place?”

“No, it’s yours,” she replied matter-of-factly.

My mind went blank for a moment. “Come again?”

“This apartment belongs to Isabel val Sanreal.”

“You’re kidding,” I muttered.

Erina folded her arms across her chest. “No, I am not.”

Her calm bluntness made it difficult for me to doubt her.

I spun slowly in a full circle and gave the place another long look that ended with me staring at Erina again. “So why are you here?”

She started to reply, but then looked behind me.

I swiftly turned to see the sexy maid was still standing where the hallway met the living area.

Like a deer in headlights, the girl grew rigid with wide eyes as she was subjected to Erina’s withering stare – something I wasn’t aware of until I glanced back at my sister.

“You can leave now,” Erina commanded in a painfully highhanded manner.

The maid almost jumped in fright, then hastily bowed, making her voluptuous chest bounce. “Y—yes, Lady Kassius.”

Skirting along the back of the living room, she fled out of sight down a hallway to my left. Moments later, Mirai’s sharp hearing caught the sounds of a door opening, then closing.

Well that was fast, I mused inwardly, then turned back to Erina. “Is she your maid or mine?”

“Yours.”

“Huh?” My eyes widened at the thought of living under the same roof with a hot sexy girl like her. “Okay….”

Erina stared hard at me. “Keep your hands off her.”

I jerked back as though I’d taken a roundhouse to the head. “What? I wasn’t thinking of doing anything to her.”

“Really….”

I clenched my jaw and straightened my back. “If she’s my maid, you could treat her a little nicer.”

“She’s a Menial. Why should I?”

My innards tightened at her words, and I softly stated, “You really are a bitch.”

“I didn’t hire her,” Erina coldly remarked.

“That doesn’t change anything,” I replied curtly.

But if she didn’t hire her…then who did?

Erina inhaled deeply and stared contemptuously at me. “That’s hypocritical when considering how you’ve been lashing out at everyone around you. Why don’t you practice what you preach?”

For a long while, I met Erina’s hard stare with silence. “I have a reason to lash out—a reason you gave me. What’s your excuse?”

“You.”

My innards clenched a little tighter.

She wasn’t wrong. I had been pushing her buttons at almost every opportunity that arose. It was bound to set her off, but it was causing collateral damage to the innocent people around me like the sexy maid.

“I can’t help it,” I explained. “Just looking at you twists my guts.”

“Well, then we’re going to have a problem.”

“We already have a problem,” I corrected her.

Erina shook her head slightly. “I meant a new problem.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’ll be living here with you.”

I felt a cold wind blow through my mind. “Say what?”

“I need to be here,” she stated sternly, “so I’ll be living with you.”

A second cold wind blew through my head before my chest began to heat up in anger. “No, not happening.”

“This isn’t up for a discussion, Isabel.”

Walking up to her, I clenched my hands into fists but kept them at my sides. “After everything you’ve done to me, you expect me to live under the same roof with you?”

“I expect you to behave appropriately and co-operate.”

I shook my head at her, “I’ll co-operate but I draw the line at living with you.”

“You need to be supervised, Isabel. There’s no choice in the matter.”

“You can do that without being here. I have no doubt that you have a surveillance system installed in this apartment, so you can watch me from somewhere else just like the voyeur that you are. And I’ve already said that I’ll be keeping my hands off the maid. But I won’t tolerate living with you. And that’s final.”

I turned around and strode toward the hallway leading to the apartment’s entrance.

As I’d expected, the Cat Princess stood in my way.

Coming to a stop, I punched a fist into a palm. “I don’t need a gun to deal with you.”

She gave me a tired, disappointed look, like a parent may to an unruly child.

It wasn’t what I was expecting. In fact, it surprised me so much that my thoughts floundered, and I almost missed what she was saying.

“Just hear her out,” the Cat Princess said, sounding dispirited. “It’s important to you and to her. But more so to your safety.”

My thoughts were still wallowing when Erina addressed me from behind me. “Isabel, she’s telling you the truth. I need to be here.”

“Why?” I didn’t turn around. Instead, I kept my attention on the Cat Princess who stood before me with her arms folded. I didn’t know why she was holding back her usually aggressive manner, but at least she wasn’t making a move for her gun. “I’m not your lab rat, Erina, so you don’t need to be here.”

Because of Mirai’s wide field-of-vision, I was able to watch the Cat Princess and the hallway behind her.

Where are those Twisted Sisters? Are they in the waiting room?

I regretted not paying more attention to those two women.

Undoubtedly, the Cat Princess was physically their superior, but oddly I found her less threatening, perhaps because despite being a machine, she acted like a human being and was thus easier to read. In contrast, the two Simulacra women acted like automatons, so I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

“I’m still your sister, Isabel,” Erina stated firmly.

Her words grabbed my undivided attention, and I abruptly realized there was something I’d been subconsciously denying for too long.

“My sister?” I risked looking away from the Cat Princess to glare at Erina over a shoulder. “You’re not my sister. Not anymore. Not since you shoved my mind into this body.”

I’d finally made the long overdue admission that I no longer considered that woman as my sister, and I felt lighter for it.

However, Erina’s response was to sigh at me as though I were a stupid child. “According to legal documents submitted to the Civil Registry, the Sanreal Family has made me your Guardian.”

My mind did the equivalent of a double-take. “What was that?”

“I said, I’m your legal Guardian.”

“Why the Hell are you my Guardian?”

“Because I requested it,” Erina deadpanned.

My mouth fell open. I had to remember to close it before swallowing. “Oh…that figures.”

There was no escaping her…or was there?

I clicked my teeth together at a sudden thought. “If I’m a member of the Sanreal Family, shouldn’t I be living with them?” Retreating a step from the Cat Princess, I turned sidelong toward Erina. “Just what’s the deal here? Where exactly do I fit in?”

“Officially you’re only a half-sister to the Sanreal siblings.”

“You mean, Mat?”

“I’m speaking in terms of what’s recorded in the Civil Registry. Matrim is a Praetor. You are a Sanreal.”

“Then who are my other official siblings? Clarisol?”

“She is one of them.”

“Does that mean another Simulacrum of Clarisol will be unleashed upon the unsuspecting world?”

Erina started to sigh but stopped hastily. “Her absence would be problematic.”

I mulled that over, wondering if this embodiment of Clarisol would be less extreme than her previous incarnation, then puzzled over why it would be a problem if she disappeared from society’s pages. “Who else is a half-sibling of mine?”

“Simon Sanreal and Conrad Sanreal. Consider them your older brothers.”

“…what…?”

For various reason, the mention of having older brothers left me floundering yet again, but one reason confused my feelings the most.

It was the notion of being part of a family.

The Sanreal were people I had never met, and they were intimately responsible for my present predicament. Yet despite this, learning that I was a part of their family – even if only on paper – meant that on some level I wasn’t alone. I was now part of something bigger, though it also meant that I would need to embrace my new identity.

I wasn’t Ronin Kassius anymore.

I was Isabel val Sanreal.

But what did that really mean? Or rather, who was she supposed to be?

In a sense, Isabel was like a character that I was playing in an elaborate drama, and in that respect, I was the actress struggling to come to terms with her role. However, while that gave me a new perspective on my predicament, it also made me regard myself as the understudy since Mirai had been originally intended as Clarisol’s means of escape from the virtual prison.

Unfortunately, it was yet something else for me to ponder later.

Erina was watching me intently, and I could ill afford to be distracted. Besides, I felt like I was playing chess against a Grand Master, with the terms and conditions of my existence at stake.

To hide my discomfit, I raised my chin and firmly met her gaze. “You suck at housework. Is that why I have a maid?”

She paused before retorting in a flat tone, “I’m a little busy to be doing housework.”

I slapped my forehead. “Yes, of course. Being a mad scientist is a fulltime job.”

“No, dealing with you is a fulltime occupation.”

“Then you shouldn’t have taken the job.”

Erina sighed in exasperation. “Really, Isabel? Is this how things are going to be between us?”

I scowled inwardly.

She was right. This was getting us nowhere.

Taking a breather, I folded my arms under Mirai’s bosom. “Then tell me. How much does that girl know about what’s going on?”

Erina sighed again, before she too folded her arms across her chest. “She knows that you’re Isabel val Sanreal, the youngest member of the Sanreal Family, and that you’re an illegitimate child.”

“You mean a love child.” I shook my head unhappily. “Fantastic cover story….”

Erina gave me a flat look but didn’t comment.

“What else does she know?” I pressed her.

“That you’re lacking in manners, good graces, and you’re a tomboy. Frankly, there is nothing ladylike about you.”

I heard the Cat Princess snicker but decided not to confront her, and instead directed a scowl at Erina. “Anything else I should know?”

“You’re also convinced that you’re a teenage boy.”

“What?” I cried out.

“You have delusions of being a boy in a past life. In other words, you believe you’re a boy reincarnated as a girl.”

I swear I could hear the tendons pop in my fingers when I clenched them. “No thanks to you,” I retorted angrily.

Unsurprisingly, Erina smiled as if to say ‘checkmate’, yet what she said was, “We have all the bases covered.”

“Yeah, I can see that. You have the maid believing that I’m crazy. That way if I act weird she’ll believe it’s because I’m a nut job.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention. She knows you like girls too.”

This time I blushed. “Well of course I do—” I cut myself off as I realized I was about to say something that would further incriminate me as being delusional.

I’m a straight guy in a girl’s body. Of course, I like girls. But now this makes me a lesbian!

My heart abruptly jumped in my chest at a suspicious thought.

Hold on a minute! Is that why she dressed up like a hot French Maid?

My gaze dropped to the carpet underfoot.

Okay, this definitely opens up possibilities—!

Realizing what I was thinking, my cheeks grew hot, but I froze when I noticed the knowing smile on Erina’s lips.

“What are you smiling at?” I snapped at her.

“You, of course.”

But of course, you would, I thought bitterly.

Erina could see that I was bothered by the French maid. However, I had adamantly stated I would be keeping my hands off the girl, and I was a man of my word.

Having said that, I chose to divert the conversation back to Erina.

“You sure laid it out nicely, didn’t you,” I verbally applauded her in a mocking tone.

“What choice did we have? You’re not aware of it, but you don’t move like a girl. Your mannerisms are barely feminine in passing. Other than your looks, there’s little else that’s feminine about you.”

Was that true?

Erina didn’t appear to be lying, but then again this was Erina that I was dealing with.

In other words, I was squaring off against an Alpha bitch.

Because of this, I held back a frown.

Showing weakness or doubt in front of Erina was a no-no, and I was doing a piss-poor job of hiding it, but I wasn’t going to stop from trying.

“I get that you’re insulting me,” I said to her, “but is that really what you wanted to tell me?”

Erina blinked slowly at me for a long while. “Yes, you’re quite right.”

“So spill it.”

“Come Monday morning, you will be attending Telos Academy.”

“Yeah, I know that. So what?”

I’ll admit that I sounded way more blasé than I should have, because attending school as a girl was no casual matter. It was going to be a waking nightmare for me, but I’d decided to show a strong front in front of Erina. However, she promptly torpedoed my resolve with a point-blank observation.

“Everyone who encounters you in school will wonder what kind of upbringing you’ve had.”

It took a moment for me understand what she meant. “Because I don’t act like a girl, right?”

“Correct. And soon it’ll be all over the social media waves that the youngest daughter of the well-known Sanreal Family is a tomboy…and that’s putting it politely.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “And why is that a problem?”

“Why? Well, you’ll understand why eventually. By then, you’ll have dug yourself into a social pit of your own making.”

“Speaking from experience, are we?”

A subtle twitching of her eyebrows told me I’d either hit the mark or was very close to target.

After a pause, Erina continued. “Frankly, it’s not my concern. As I’ve said before, you have a purpose and so long as you meet that purpose, it’s not my problem if you ruin your school and social life.”

My eyes widened as I faked disbelief. “Wow, and here I thought you cared about your lab rat.”

Erina stepped up to me.

Since Mirai was a tall girl, our heights were comparable, and so I stared back at her at eyelevel.

“I’ll say this clearly, so pay attention,” she advised me in a low voice. “I only care about the lab rat, Isabel. You make it impossible to care about the rest of you.”

I wet my lips slowly. “Then get out. Or better still, have the school assign me to a dormitory, and I’ll continue living on my own—as I’ve been doing for the past three years after you abandoned me just like our parents did.”

Erina’s face grew taut for a heartbeat before relaxing. “That’s out of the question.”

I smiled mercilessly at her. “Then I’m going to make your life here a living Hell.”

Her jaw muscles clenched in response. “Do you want to be boxed?”

I thought of Clarisol in her cage – the virtual prison for her mind – then I weighed what I knew of my importance to Erina and the Sanreals.

“Go ahead and do it,” I answered her with unwavering eyes.

Once again, a tense, heavy silence shrouded both of us.

I could also imagine a thundercloud or two over our heads.

Then a loud, heavy sigh rushed through the air behind me, and the Cat Princess intruded into our standoff.

“Eri, you’re going to give yourself ulcers again. Remember what your doctor told you? This time it could be a lot worse than last time. If you end up hospitalized again—oops!”

Hospitalized? Did she say hospitalized?

While I had trouble hiding my shock, Erina shifted her attention onto the Cat Princess standing behind me to my five o’clock. “Unlike other people, I learn from my mistakes.”

The Cat Princess sighed again, but she sounded exhausted. “And now you’re going to make a new set of mistakes.”

I narrowed my eyes at Erina. “You were hospitalized? For real?”

Annoyed, she snorted loudly at me. “It’s none of your concern.”

I slowly nodded. “You’re right. And I don’t intend to go easy on you. When I’m done, you’ll have sworn off having kids for life.”

Without warning, Erina violently flourished her arms into the air. “Fine—have it your way! Do whatever the Hell you want!”

I have to admit she took me by surprise and I almost retreated a step. However, while I didn’t back away, I failed to stop myself from recoiling from her. Maybe that was a mistake because Erina pressed home her advantage by poking me hard in the collarbone.

I really didn’t think she’d risk touching me, but I guess she finally went ballistic and tossed caution to the wind.

“You want to live alone?” she railed at me, turning beet red with anger. “Fine. Live alone. I’ll have you assigned to a dormitory in time for school next week. But until then, you’re going to live here for the next five days and learn how to be a lady! At the very least, learn how to walk like one!” She took several deep breaths, paused, then took a handful more before asking, “Is that clear?”

I replied with a curt nod, while holding back a grin.

Erina inhaled deeply, and then squeezed her eyes shut while pinching the bridge of her nose. For a long while she huffed and puffed like a steam engine, before finally opening her eyes and glaring at me. But that didn’t last long because she turned away without warning, then trudged off without a word.

I watched her walk out of the living room and disappear into an adjoining hallway to my left. However, she re-emerged moments later, crossed the breadth of the living room, and vanished into a hallway to my right.

Did she get lost? I wondered, then inwardly patted myself on the back. Wow, I really got to her. Hooray! That was a home run!

Crossing my arms over Mirai’s chest, I stared at the view of Ar Telica beyond the balcony.

Her meltdown might seem like a small victory, but I felt it was the start of a grand campaign to eventually push Erina over the edge. Indeed, I was looking forward to the day I paid her back in full for the trauma she had thus far inflicted on me.

So then…why did I feel like shit?

While I was thinking that over, I noticed Pearson who was silently standing in the middle of the living area, peering in the direction Erina had stormed off.

Stowing my sour feelings, I gave her a haughty look. “What? You’re still here? Don’t tell me you’re moving in as well?”

The young woman regarded me quizzically for an uncomfortably long while until she smiled fearlessly at me. “You really are a child, aren’t you?”

“Hmm?” I turned toward her and met her smile with a menacing grin. “Oh, right. I just remembered that I don’t like you.” I dipped my head at her. “And Erina’s not around to protect you…is she?”

It was pleasing to see her smile waver and fade away. But she quickly shrugged off my threat, then walked down the hallway Erina had vanished into.

It must have taken her a great deal of effort not to glance back at me over a shoulder.

When she was out of sight, I exhaled loudly and slumped my shoulders. “Yeah, I really don’t like her….”

Behind me, the Cat Princess sounded quietly disappointed. “I bet you feel really proud.”

I slowly turned to face her. “Yeah. I’m clapping madly inside. Woo hoo. Hooray for me.”

“Then why do it?”

“That…is a stupid question.”

She stared at me with suspicion in her eyes. “Then when are you planning to stop lashing out at everyone around you? What good will that do you? You’re not going back to being Ronin Kassius.”

Ignoring her questions, I focused instead on that last remark. “You knew about that?”

“About what?”

“That I can’t go back to my old body.”

She hesitated for a long moment. “Yes, I knew….”

I slowly wet my lips, feeling my anger faintly rekindled. “I bet you enjoyed watching me hope in vain that I could be a man again.”

The Cat Princess weakly shook her head, and seemed sincere when she replied, “It wasn’t fun at all. Not in the least.”

I refrained from frowning.

Why is she acting so considerate?

Her new approach had me both curious and cautions, which was why I decided to act like I hadn’t noticed. “Well, you sure looked like you were having fun at my expense.”

Again, she hesitated for a long while, and eventually averted her golden eyed gaze. “That was the intention. It doesn’t mean I enjoyed it….”

I held back another frown.

What is she playing at? Why the conciliatory approach?

Nonetheless, what she said was too important to ignore, so I turned around and faced her properly. “What do you mean by that?”

And now she hesitated a third time, before appearing to wilt a little. “The point was to give you a traumatic experience so that you would want to wake up.”

It was growing harder not to frown at her.

Had she been referring to my time as Ronin Kassius the Simulacrum? If that was the case—

“You shot me,” I reminded her.

“And you woke up,” she stated as though it was a natural result.

“No, I died.”

The memory of finding the dead girl’s body – of laying eyes on that female version of Ronin Kassius – made my throat tighten and it painfully squeezed my heart.

In the end, I became what I had most feared…a girl Ronin Kassius.

And then I died…and woke up inside Mirai’s head.

Yet the Cat Princess was shaking her head slowly as though disagreeing with me. “You were already as good as dead. That Simulacrum wouldn’t have lasted more than a week at best. Your consciousness was already mapped into Mirai’s brain. You were connected to the Simulacrum’s mind so that you could experience everything it experienced. But you were already inside Mirai.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “It still sounds weird no matter how much Erina explained it to me, but it’s the truth.”

I felt something wasn’t adding up. “Clarisol told me that my sister—I mean, Erina—knew that the Empress wanted my mind inside Mirai two months ago. So why put me in a Simulacrum that wasn’t going to last?”

“We knew about her intention to stick you in Mirai. What we didn’t know was that she was going to throw Ronin Kassius into Limbo where he almost died. Everything happened so fast. And then we found out we couldn’t awaken Mirai. She was experiencing some weird dream state after Ronin’s mind was imprinted into her in a rush. Because of that, Ronin’s Simulacrum was produced on short notice.”

Was this really the truth? It sounded probable, but why the rush to wake up Mirai? Was it because they were trying to keep up with the Empress changing the rules on them? Despite what my sister had said about standing up to the Empress, they were still dancing to her tune.

I gave the Cat Princess a sour smile. “When you put it that way, I’m surprised I’m still sane.”

“I’m not following you….” She looked genuinely confused.

“I mean that I’m surprised Erina did anything right. I could have ended up with multiple personalities or a complete nut job in a padded cell.”

She appeared to ponder that for a while before casually declaring, “The night is still young.”

“Oh wonderful.” I rolled my eyes and started turning away.

“If you want to blame someone then blame the Empress. Blame her and not Erina. She doesn’t deserve your scorn.”

“Oh, she deserves it,” I countered. “Every bit and more. She has treated me like nothing more than a science project. And she made it clear just now that that’s all I am to her. So she can get frekked for all I care.”

Once again, the Cat Princess was studiously quiet for a long while before saying, “She may have said that, but to me you’re a lot more.”

“Huh?”

“You said you wanted to see the real me. Fine. I’ll show you the real me. Maybe then you’ll understand how important you are to Erina and I but in different ways.”

I watched the Cat Princess walk past me toward the balcony on the opposite side of the living room.

At the permaglass window wall, she slid aside one of the transparent partitions that served as a door, allowing the cold night air to drift into the apartment’s temperate interior.

“Follow me,” she instructed, then walked out to the middle of the balcony, whereupon she sat down cross legged, and then closed her eyes.

Stepping up to the open entrance, I wondered what she was up to when I abruptly sensed a disconcerting weightlessness accompanied by disorientation.

For a moment, I feared a translocation was imminent and I clenched my gut to keep myself from feeling overly sick as I hastily swept my gaze over the balcony. Moments later, I noticed a warping of my view of the surrounding city buildings, something akin to a fisheye lens effect, and a deep thrumming filled the air. It worked its way into my bones, and I quickly recalled a similar experience when I stood near a Sarcophagus, but never at this scale.

The phrase, ‘speak of the Devil and he shall come’ rushed through my head as I watched the lens effect warp my view of the city even more before a giant, gunmetal grey Sarcophagus emerged from the distorted area. Floating inches above the balcony floor, the giant device towered over me and the Cat Princess sitting motionless on the ground. It belched a cold, white fog much like an ancient locomotive venting steam, obscuring much of the balcony within seconds. Despite this, I was still able to see the silhouette of the Sarcophagus open its doors, and quickly unleash multiple dark tentacles from its innards. They deposited something on the ground, before reaching out to pick up the motionless Cat Princess, and then carry her into the giant coffin. Afterwards, the immense device closed its doors and disappeared back into the warped, rippling curtain of air above the balcony.

As soon as it vanished, the disorienting weightless sensation went away, and I felt my surroundings return to normal, along with the fog slowly dissipating into the chilly night air.

Whatever the Sarcophagus had delivered was slowly moving on the ground.

I waited until more of the fog had evaporated before cautiously venturing out onto the balcony to see what it was. However, after walking a few meters toward it, I stopped and stared at it with uncertainty.

A young woman with long, blonde hair, wearing a white leotard, was half-lying on the balcony like a beached mermaid. She had propped herself up on her arms and was shaking her head slowly while blinking as though heavily concussed.

Swallowing quietly, I cautiously stepped closer to her.

Sensing me draw near, she looked up at me with a strained expression, and my gut clenched tightly when I recognized her.

“It’s you….”

She swallowed a few more times before speaking in a raspy voice, “You remembered me.”

I nodded absently as I stared at her intently. “You were there at the game center the day my nightmare began. You were playing the Gun Princess Royale, and Class Rep—I mean, Shirohime—she called you stupid.”

The young woman snorted softly. “Yes, she did. And you were hiding in the crowd.”

Remembering that she’d used a wheelchair at that time – one with the Telos Corporation logo on it – I regarded her legs. There were odd grey rivulets running all over them, scarring their skin. Sweeping my gaze over the rest of her body, I noticed it was waifish, and her arms had the same rivulets coursing through her skin. This was my first time seeing them because back at the game center she’d been wearing long sleeves and her legs were sheathed in stockings.

At the time, I’d thought she was a burn victim, but now I saw what she’d been hiding.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked her.

With a groan, she shifted her body, indeed much like a beached mermaid.

“Humanity hasn’t solved all medical conditions,” she replied. “There’s a few they haven’t fixed yet.” She looked up at me again. “My body looks horrible to you, doesn’t it?”

I decided to be honest with her. “…yeah….”

Her laugh was gentle yet bitter. “This is the result of your sister saving my life.” When I frowned, she smiled as though in self-pity. “I suffered from muscle dystrophy, and your sister tried to save me by using the Angel Fibers she had cultivated. It was illegal, and contravened scientific practices, but I had nothing to lose, and she was running out of time. So I became her first and last human test subject.”

“It didn’t work…?”

“Yes and no. The Angel Fibers stopped my muscular dystrophy, but they paralyzed my legs and scarred my body when they ripped out of me.”

I winced at the image her words painted in my mind.

Akane Straus nodded slowly. “That’s right. I wasn’t a pretty sight. But I survived, and whatever changes they made to my body stopped the muscular dystrophy in its tracks. But they also disrupted my motor controls, crippling my legs. I can feel them so in that respect I’m not a paraplegic, but I can’t use them. I can’t even crawl on them.”

My gaze was drawn to her legs. “Does it hurt?”

Straus shook her head. “No. It looks bad, but I’ll admit there’s no pain.”

I noticed I was nodding, probably in sympathy, and quickly stopped. After a deep breath, I asked, “What happened afterwards?”

Straus was puzzled by the question. “Afterwards?”

“You said my sister operated on you illegally. So what happened after that?”

“Oh.” She chuckled softly. “Her superiors suspended her, but the Sanreal Family who own the Telos Corporation stepped in and re-instated her. However, rather than using human subjects, they provided her with Simulacra instead. That’s when she learnt about the other universe and the truth about the Sanreal Family.”

My eyes widened. “That’s how it happened?”

Straus nodded weakly. “Yes….”

When I pictured the plight she’d endured, it made my chest grow tight. I found myself sympathizing with her anew, and seeing her lying poorly on the balcony floor, I couldn’t think of her as the Cat Princess anymore, even though I knew they were one and the same. Because of this, some of the animosity I’d harbored toward her crumbled away, but I was left nursing some complicated and confused feelings

A woman’s sudden shout from behind me made me flinch in surprise.

“Akane!”

I turned quickly toward the apartment and saw Erina standing by the permaglass entrance to the balcony. Umi Pearson was there too, with the large magazine sized tablet in her hands and a frightened look on her face, but it was Erina who rushed out and dropped to her knees beside Straus who was now sitting upright on the ground.

“What are you doing? What were you thinking?” she cried out, sounding the most frantic I’d ever heard her.

“It was something I needed to do,” Straus answered, placating her with a hand on her shoulder.

Erina looked aghast. “What? Why?”

“Because I had to show her,” Straus replied.

Erina shook her head, protesting loudly, “No. It wasn’t. You didn’t need to do this at all.”

“Yes, I did. She needed to see me, Eri. The real me—”

“Absolutely not!”

“Eri—”

“We can argue about this elsewhere. It’s cold out here. We need to get you inside.”

Erina attempted to pick up Straus, but she was unable to cope with the young woman’s weight.

She looked pathetic to me, and I held back a sigh because it would have sounded too much like a derisive snort. Instead, I sighed inwardly as I stepped closer to the two women. “Here, I’ll do it—”

“Get away from her,” Erina shouted at me.

Startled, I stepped back and stared at her with wide eyes. “Hey, what is your problem—?”

“Don’t touch her,” Erina snapped, and resumed her feeble attempts to pick up Straus.

However, the latter reached out with her hands and stopped the woman that I no longer considered family. Facing me, Straus spoke in a manner that did not reflect her personality as the Cat Princess. She sounded quite calm and composed while supported by Erina as she sat helplessly on the ground.

“Do you still want to hit me? Or am I too pathetic?”

I couldn’t tell if she was taunting me or sincerely asking for my opinion.

I chose to be honest with her. “With Mirai’s strength, I’d kill you if I hit you…and I don’t want your blood on my hands.”

Straus smiled wistfully up at me. “I don’t know whether to be grateful or not.”

I started to shrug indifferently. “I’ll find another way to make you suffer.”

Erina stood up swiftly and spoke in a heated, menacing tone. “You will do no such thing—”

“Eri!”

She looked down sharply at Straus who admonished her with a hard stare.

“This is between her and I,” Straus calmly stated then with some difficulty, she rearranged her legs on the balcony so that they stretched out before her.

When she looked up at me, I could see the strain on her face.

“I told you this before,” she said. “To me, you’re my hope.”

I understood what she meant, and I didn’t like it at all.

I felt she was being unfair to me, and I could have said as much, but instead I shook my head slowly and replied in a perfunctory manner, “At least you have something to hope for. I don’t.”

Ignoring Erina who had resumed kneeling on the balcony beside Straus, I turned away and began walking back toward the apartment.

I can’t tell you why, but I started shivering as soon as I crossed the threshold into the living room.

Was it because I’d been somewhat wrong about Straus? Was it because I felt burdened by her? Or was it something else?

I stopped in the middle of the room to search my feelings as the shivers continued to afflict my body.

And then I realized why.

It was the angry yet terrified shout Erina had thrown at me, the look on her face, the panic in her eyes, and the frantic desire to keep me away from Straus.

It had cut me deep, so deep that I was experiencing a belated reaction.

Cold rushed through me, encircling my heart, chilling the air in my lungs.

I found it hard to breathe, and I found it hard to see as tears welled up in my eyes, and then spilled unhindered down my cheeks.

In the middle of the living room, I sobbed.

And then something else welled up inside me.

All the hurt, the despair, the desolation that roiled within my chest burst out of me in a primal scream that ripped the air out of my lungs. When silence finally returned to the apartment, my body no longer shivered, but instead trembled as my tortured emotions continued to combust painfully within me.

Clenching my hands, I bowed my head for a long while, before slowly straightening up.

I dried my face with the back of a sleeve, clearing away the clouds in my eyes. As I did so I noticed a girlish silhouette in my peripheral vision.

The young maid stood at the entrance to a hallway connected to the living room. She was keeping close to the wall, ready to dart either back into the hallway or across the living area at the drop of a hat.

The scream I’d bellowed had undoubtedly drawn her here, and the fear on her face was my doing.

I felt guilty for having scared her, but I couldn’t bring myself to apologize.

My throat felt raw as I harshly snapped, “Go away.”

The girl grew even more frightened and began turning to flee back the way she’d come, but she suddenly stopped. With eyes growing wide, her attention was riveted in the direction of the hallway leading to the apartment’s entrance.

It was easy to understand why she was so alarmed.

Wearing dark glasses, the two Simulacra sisters had rushed into the living room with guns drawn. Upon sight of me, they aimed their firearms in my direction, then silently advanced toward me with practiced ease. Moving without hesitation, their body language practically shouted their intention to subdue me by force – a clear case of shoot first, ask questions later.

As I watched them, a cold chill swept through my body that washed away my tortured emotions.

Maybe that was Mirai’s doing, or maybe it was mine.

Either way, I now observed the Simulacra sisters with preternatural clarity and calm.

My scream had attracted the maid, so perhaps it had summoned the two women as well. But wasn’t it overkill for them to approach me with guns drawn?

Something didn’t feel right, and I had no choice but to face the next question.

Would I run, fight, or allow myself to be shot?

My gut instinct warned me that talking my way out of this was unlikely to work.

The two women were like preprogrammed automatons, and I doubted peaceful negotiation was part of their skillset.

Yet knowing this, I struggled to decide on a course of action.

On the other hand, Mirai had already made her choice.

Someone once said that the worst mistake anyone could make in a street fight was to demonstrate a willingness to do battle. Their philosophy was to remain impassionate until the very last moment, then explode into action when all other avenues were exhausted, and fighting was unavoidable.

Mirai was of a different mind.

Reacting to the threat instinctually, she kicked my awareness into overdrive.

With my senses now painfully acute, she dropped her body into a low, aggressive stance.

Thus readied, she made her position abundantly clear.

Unfortunately by doing so, Mirai’s instincts all but shoved me into a corner.

---

Thank you for getting this far.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The new "The Gun Princess Royale" will hopefully be release on Amazon Kindle as an eBook in August, 2023.
It all depends on what issues my editor friend finds with the story.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

---

The moment Mirai readied herself to kick butt, the two women separated and approached me from different angles.

Watching them glide smoothly over the carpet, I truly regretted blasting out that scream.

And yet was it enough to bring them running with guns in hand?

Mirai’s gut was telling something else was afoot, but I’d have to ponder it another time due a more pressing concern.

What the Hell do I do now?

In an overclocked state, my gaze darted about the apartment.

Despite being lavishly furnished, the living area was so spacious that there wasn’t much in the way of cover. But there was one thing I could try – the proverbial long shot in the dark – and its success depended on the type of ammo loaded into those guns.

“Princess, you have truly done it now.”

Ghost?

My eyes started to widen as I perceived time slowing down even more than usual.

Instead of one second stretching out to four or five, it was one second dilating out to twenty.

I didn’t know how Ghost made it happen, but it certainly came in handy at times like these. In a way, I was little envious of his ability to influence my mental clock speed to this extent. But I was grateful for the extra time it gave me to think of a way out of this mess.

“Princess, please listen carefully. Their weapons are operating in autistic mode. That means I cannot interfere with them. The same applies to the tactical lenses they are wearing.”

Wonderful, I scowled inwardly.

In short, Ghost was telling me he was cut off from the intelligent system controlling their guns, thus he had no way of jamming them for me. And if he couldn’t affect the glasses they were wearing, then he had no way of temporarily blinding them either. It was unfortunate because with his help I was confident Mirai’s brute strength was enough to overcome both women.

Ghost then delivered more bad news.

“Secondly, while I can access their comms, I cannot issue a stand-down order because I do not know their battle language. It will take me some time to determine the proper protocols they are using.”

That confused me, but I assumed it had something to do with coded military speak that prevented an enemy from issuing false commands.

“Thirdly, Princess, the reason they are here is because Doctor Pearson made a frantic call for help. She described you as crazed and dangerous.”

Even in accelerated time, I could feel my eyes sharply widen.

Pearson had been standing near Erina when the latter yelled out Straus’s name. But when I walked back into the apartment, she was nowhere in sight.

Damn that mousy bitch!

The urge to throttle her briefly trampled all other feelings underfoot.

Surprisingly, Ghost read me like an open book. “Princess, do not trouble yourself with Pearson. Going after her now is foolhardy at best. And remember, revenge is a dish best served cold.”

I inwardly frowned upon hearing that.

What is he suggesting—that I toss her into a freezer?

I did concede the macabre nature of that idea appealed to the demons lurking in my subconscious…or was that Mirai’s subconscious?

I frowned a little deeper, briefly wondering if the line between us was beginning to blur.

However, Ghost yanked my attention back to the immediate problem with another helping of bad news.

He was like a twisted version of the gift that kept on giving.

“Last but far from least, this situation may take some time to resolve. In the meantime, Princess, you have three options. One, overpower your opponents thereby proving you are indeed a lethal weapon. Two, run for your life. Or three, allow yourself to be subdued.”

You mean shot!

“The choice is yours to make. However, option one will be difficult to achieve, and option two may have dire consequences. That said, I will negotiate with the Powers-That-Be on your behalf, though it will be necessary to reveal that I am in contact with you.” He then murmured, “I may need to pull some strings….”

Yeah, whatever! Just do it!

Abruptly, I realized something odd.

Why isn’t he suggesting I take Option Three?

My attention drifted to the guns pointed at me.

Could it be the weapons are loaded with live ammo?

That possibility made my stomach sink in slow motion.

Considering my value to Erina, I doubted she would allow me to be shot with live bullets. However, she was aggrieved when she saw the young woman with the bluish ponytail, so I suspected that Erina wasn’t completely in charge of my circumstances. Maybe someone higher up the proverbial chain of command had sent those three women to watch over me…and now two of them were pointing their guns at me.

Ghost then concluded with a dire prognosis.

“Either way, Princess, it will take some time to settle things, and I sincerely doubt I can do this on my own. The outcome of this situation may very well rely on your sister’s involvement. Unfortunately, you have succeeded in royally angering her so do not count on her support for the time being.”

In short, I was backed into a corner, but the notion of having to depend on Erina to save my skin rankled me.

If Ghost said he needed time, then so be it. I’d find a way to give him that time. Defeating the two women wasn’t on the cards, and I didn’t know where the girl with the ponytail had run off to, leaving me with a very big unknown factor to contend with. Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to allow myself to be shot, thus, I was left with only one choice to make:

Run.

“I bet they’re curious to see what I can do.” The words I spoke sounded strung out as my mind outpaced my lips. “Then let’s show them.”

Ghost sighed wearily in my ears. “I knew you were going to say that. Very well. I can disrupt their comm systems for a few seconds. That should give you ample time to—Princess, wait! I am not ready yet!”

The living room had a sunken floor that was home to a U-shaped sofa and a tinted glass coffee table. As soon as I leapt from the upper floor down to the sunken level, the two Simulacra sisters opened fire.

Their reaction time alarmed me.

Mirai was lightning quick, but those girls were only a whisker slower.

Then again, perhaps they’d anticipated my decision to jump.

Either way, as I moved, I glimpsed tiny darts about an inch long cut the air behind me.

“I see. Electro-shock flechettes,” Ghost observed with a blend of relief and wonder. “That is good news.”

Is he serious?

Having landed on the sunken floor, I hurriedly flipped up the coffee table, then picked it up by its legs.

“A wise decision, Princess. The permaglass table has excellent insulating properties. It will make a very good shield.”

Tell me something I don’t know!

Honestly, I was inwardly relieved they weren’t firing AP rounds at me or the table would have been worthless to me.

With an iron grip on its legs, I used Mirai’s enormous strength to haul it into the air, then used it to block the next volley of flechettes that streaked toward me. Their sharp tips pitted and fractured the laminated permaglass, and the electrical discharges scorched the already tinted surface, turning the material an outright black. Yet despite suffering more than a dozen hits, the table remained intact.

If I ever made it big in the Gun Princess Royale, I planned to endorse the table’s manufacturer – for free!

However, while that was well and good, each flash was blinding so I had trouble keeping an eye on my opponents while I made my escape. Also, hiding behind the table made for awkward running as I fled up and out of the sunken floor, but it didn’t stop me from making tracks to the balcony. In response, the Simulacra sisters moved quickly to outflank me, forcing me to repeatedly swing the coffee table about to block the flechettes coming at me from two different directions.

Seriously? Can’t a girl catch a break!

With the table now mostly blackened, I stumbled out of the living room, then through the open entrance and onto the balcony.

“Princess make a sharp right,” Ghost advised. “Stay behind the permaglass windows.”

The window wall separating the balcony from the apartment was at least twenty meters wide. Like the table I carried, it offered protection against the hail of electro-shock flechettes chasing me.

As I rounded the entrance, I decided to ditch the table – it now resembled an obsidian slab – by throwing it at the nearest Simulacra sister charging toward me.

I have to admit, I wasn’t accustomed to Mirai’s strength. Heck, I’d only been inside her body for a little over a day, so what happened next shocked me down to my bones.

First, the blackened, pitted table flew with such speed and force that it slammed into the young woman before she could dive out of the way. Her reflexes were good, well beyond human, but it wasn’t enough to save her.

Secondly, I’d flung the table with all Mirai’s might and lost my balance. Landing on my hands and knees, I looked up in time to see the girl roll across the living room floor, crash against a wall…and then lie deathly still.

Oh gods! Did I—?

“Princess—move!”

A fresh volley of flechettes hit the balcony window while I sensed others narrowly miss my head.

I scrambled onto my feet, but my sneakers slipped on the ground as I applied ‘too much pedal to the metal’.

While in danger of pinwheeling, I heard a cry of rage from inside the living room.

Surprisingly, it was the first time I’d heard anything from either of the two young women, so that scream was definitely not a good sign.

“Congratulations, Princess. Now you have made her angry.”

Oh, you think so?

“You certainly have a way with people,” Ghost added dryly.

Oh, shut up!

“Clarisol, Straus, Erina—the list goes on,” he mused.

You are so not helping!

As I struggled for traction, the mention of Straus and Erina made me glance toward the middle of the balcony.

Erina was kneeling on the ground with a face that shouted ‘What the Hell?’, and Straus was looking shell shocked.

No help from that quarter!

My sneakers finally got some grip, and I ran for a corner of the balcony that was fenced by a twelve-foot high permaglass wall. Upon arrival, I executed a frantic running leap onto it.

Ghost abruptly sang, “She will be coming around the mountain—here she comes!”

Oh crap!

Boosted by desperation, Mirai jumped so high she almost cleared the top of the wall, but sensing she had come up short, I tucked my legs beneath me as the flechettes scorched the permaglass below my feet.

And then I was over the wall and falling down the other side.

Mirai’s momentum carried her quite far from it – several feet in fact – and I landed in crouch a little harder than expected, but hard enough to make Mirai’s bouncing bosom smack my chin.

Damn it!

Rising quickly, I looked around to see that I was standing on a corner of the building.

As I’ve mentioned before, the megascraper was octagonal. What I haven’t mentioned were the giant terraced steps located at each corner that descended all the way down to street level. Think of them like the immense slabs that make up the Egyptian pyramids on Earth because that’s how big they were.

Standing on a step facing southeast, I now had a choice to make – either continue circling around the building by jumping from balcony to balcony or descend to the street far below.

In the end, the choice was made for me.

“Princess, she is coming. Jump across to the next balcony. Hurry!”

I knew that Ghost perceived my surroundings by accessing Mirai’s senses, but I suspected he was keeping an eye on the Simulacrum sister by tapping into the surveillance systems in my vicinity.

Why did I think this?

Because Mirai did not have eyes on the back of her head.

Trusting in him, I didn’t waste time looking behind me. Instead, I ran full pelt across the short distance to the balcony ahead of me, and then took a running leap to the top of the permaglass wall encircling it. Again, my jump was slightly short, and I had to tuck my legs to clear it. I then dropped onto a balcony belonging to an apartment suite that was undoubtedly as large and luxurious as the one Isabel val Sanreal purportedly owned.

As my sneakered feet hit the balcony tiling, a flash of light in my peripheral vision accompanied the sharp crackle of an electro-shock discharge, and I knew that a flechette had struck the permaglass wall behind me.

Catching my balance, I sprinted past a pool with gentle waters tinted blue by underwater lights. Maybe it was the sheer avarice of the pool that made me glance at it. But a glance was all I spared because Mirai ran across the forty-meter wide balcony in seconds.

Even without her Princess Regalia, I was proud to say she was fast on her feet.

I jumped across to the next balcony, again tucking my legs under me as I sailed over the top of the wall, then stretched them downward to cushion my landing like a pair of springs.

On touchdown, I wondered how many balconies I could jump before Mirai started to grow weary.

On the heels of that thought, I peeked over a shoulder.

Behind me, the sole remaining Simulacrum sister was having trouble negotiating the high permaglass walls separating the balconies, even though she was using a parkour trick of kicking off against the adjacent apartment wall.

I decided to leave her in my dust, so for the next minute I continued fleeing clockwise around the building, crossing from balcony to balcony until I arrived at the southern face of the immense megascraper.

Standing on another colossal step best suited for Mighty Joe Young, I gave the girl chasing me a quick look, gauged I was out of her firing line, and then began descending the giant stairs to the street far below. The repetitive nature of jumping down each step required little thought, and soon induced a somewhat Zen-like state of mind. Thus, despite being chased by an angry gun totting girl, I felt oddly calm. Whether that was good or bad is up for debate, but the tranquility I experienced didn’t last for long because Mirai’s body began to complain in a most unexpected and frustrating manner.

What started as a dull ache in Mirai’s breasts gradually flourished into a sharp pang every time I landed on a massive, terraced step. By the time I’d descended fifteen or sixteen floors, I was in some serious discomfort. No doubt the Angel Fibers were working hard to contain the pain, but it was distracting me at a time when I couldn’t afford to be distracted.

This is what I get for not wearing a sports bra!

The regular lacy bra fell woefully short of supporting Mirai’s charms when she was in action.

I had to grit my teeth against the burning, stabbing sensation afflicting my chest, but only travelled down a few more floors before calling it quits. To be safe, I climbed over an adjacent permaglass wall into an apartment balcony to the west of me, and then hurried across the spacious area while using an arm to cradle Mirai’s breasts.

“Bloody Hell,” I hissed through clenched teeth as I jogged past another large pool with underwater lighting. This time the water was tinted pink.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the Angel Fibers soothed Mirai’s bosom from the inside, and the pain was mostly gone by the time I arrived at the opposite end of the balcony.

Pausing before the transparent wall separating this balcony from its neighbor, I cast a furtive look behind me to the east.

However, the Simulacrum sister was nowhere to be found.

Whenever I’d peeked behind me, I’d used the pale orange glow surrounding the young woman to guide my eyes toward her. But the orange glow of her lifeforce had vanished against the side of the building, nor was there a hint of it against the night sky.

In other words, I’d lost sight of her.

For precious seconds, I floundered in shock before crying out, “Ghost—I can’t see her! Where is she?”

“Princess, I have no visual on her. She is not in the immediate vicinity.”

A whisper from Mirai’s subconscious was urging me to continue running, but I hesitated and instead continued sweeping my gaze over the side of the building, searching for the missing sister while my mind raced.

Where the Hell did she go?

Firing electro-shock flechettes out in the open was prone to attract the attention of the authorities. In fact, I was surprised there weren’t a dozen Enforcer drones hovering over me right now. This presented two possibilities. Either the chase had been called off, or the girl was still hunting me but going about it another way.

“Ghost, did she go back inside?”

“I do not know, Princess.”

Hearing that made me lose my cool. “What the Hell do you mean you don’t know? How did you lose track of her?”

“Apologies, Princess—”

“You’re supposed to be the eyes on the back of my head!”

“I wholeheartedly apologize, Princess—”

“Ghost, apologies don’t help me—not one bit!”

Despair and frustration were getting the better of me. I knew that getting angry was a big no-no – especially now – but staying calm and in control was growing harder by the heartbeat.

“Ghost, you better make up for it!”

“Princess, I suggest you continue moving. Head to the western face of the building. There is a maglev station about seventy floors below you. You can blend into the station crowd and catch the next passing train.”

The maglev service ran twenty-four seven though less frequently during the early hours of the morning. But if I could catch a train away from the building, it would help me gain some distance on the enraged girl.

Stifling a frustrated growl, I instead snorted loudly through my nose.

“Fine—let’s try it.”

I performed a standing leap onto the transparent balcony wall ahead of me. I had to boost myself up by grabbing a hold of it. Crouched atop its narrow edge, I gave the surrounding skyline a fleeting look – again surprised there were no Enforcer drones headed my way – then jumped down the other side of the wall. My sneakered feet landed with a dull thud, and I winced a little at a sharp twinge from Mirai’s breasts, but after pushing off into a fast jog, I crossed the open area quickly, then leapt over another permaglass wall and onto the next balcony.

As I continued travelling clockwise around the megascraper, I grew increasingly anxious. I felt like I was being watched, and it made my shoulders and nape tingle unpleasantly. Ignoring the discomfort in Mirai’s chest, I ran faster as I crossed from balcony to balcony with mounting unease.

Arriving at the southwest face of the building, I dropped down into a balcony with yet another large sunken pool with underwater lighting. I paid it scant attention as I was intent on finding a way down to the maglev station.

However, I couldn’t resist glancing behind me.

Surprisingly, I hadn’t done that in a while. I’d been running with my attention focused mostly dead ahead, but the relentless tingling along my neck and shoulders turned into an insisting prickling.

Overwhelmed by the urge to check my six o’clock, I peeked over a shoulder.

At that moment, something small and white leapt at me from the direction of the apartment off to my right. Startled, I turned to see two rows of small white teeth headed straight for my throat. Ducking on impulse caused my feet to slip, and I tumbled hard before coming up on my hands and knees. But the fall saved me, and the owner of those flat, white teeth sailed over my back just as a bright, blue flash lit up the balcony. Then a loud crackling filled the air followed by the sound of a heavy splash from the nearby pool.

Still on all fours, I gave the pool a curious yet frantic look to see something small and white – about the size of a small dog – floating in the water. Realizing that it was a dog, I leapt to my feet and ran to save it. In fact, I was a heartbeat away from diving into the pool when I noticed there was no lifeforce aura surrounding the tiny defender of its realm.

Is it dead?

Then I saw something unexpected.

Machine parts?

It took me a split second to realize the small white creature was a mechanical dog.

It took me another split second to realize I’d been sniped.

It was pure luck, or maybe someone ‘up there’ was watching out for me, but the little machine dog had saved me from being shot in the back.

“Princess, run!”

Yeah, I figured that much!

Turning on the balls of my feet, I sprinted hard for the next balcony and the transparent wall standing between us. Jumping up and then over it, I landed on the tiled ground, then hastily backed up against the permaglass fencing. Using it for cover, I threw my gaze about in a hurry, searching the floors above me for anything with or without a lifeforce aura.

“Ghost, where are they?”

“Princess, above you to the east.”

Using Mirai’s magnetic sense to guide me, I searched the sky in the suggested direction.

Despite moving quickly, Mirai’s body felt frustratingly slow while my consciousness operated at an accelerated state.

However, I soon caught sight of what Ghost had spotted.

High above me, a radiant golden aura was gliding down the side of the building. Distance made it look small, but it was clearly the lifeforce radiated by a human body.

Surprisingly, it was drifting downwards as though paragliding alongside the building.

“Princess, they are employing a glider pack. I suspect they are also using a thermoptic skinsuit.”

A skinsuit was the ultra lightweight equivalent of the modern military armor-skin – a biomechanical exoframe that amplified, strengthened, and protected a human body. It wouldn’t offer the same degree of power as a military grade suit, but it could easily double the strength and stamina of the wearer.

However, I doubted it would make them a match for Mirai.

Though she still surprised me with her strength, I knew it well enough to gauge she was several times stronger than a human girl her size, and thereby stronger than a few of men. Knowing this gave me a degree of confidence against the wearer of that skinsuit. But if they’d sniped me, then I was at a sharp disadvantage.

I watched the lifeforce aura gently descending toward me. It was some fifteen or sixteen floors above me, but for a sniper that was spitting distance.

“Ghost, can you summon the Sarcophagus?”

“Princess, if I do that—”

“Can you summon it or not?”

Ghost was silent for what felt like a very long second. “Aye, Princess. I can.”

I understood his reluctance.

If he summoned the Sarcophagus, and if I outfitted myself with Mirai’s Princess Regalia, it would escalate the situation, so I had to deal with this new development while unarmed and unprotected.

For now, it didn’t matter who was chasing me.

That was something to be addressed at another time.

What did matter was that the chase was back on.

Yet, I was a little surprised it wasn’t the Cat Princess in pursuit but someone else.

Did Erina have something to do with that or had someone pulled rank on her?

In other words, had someone else made the decision to bench the Cat Princess?

Was it the girl with the bluish ponytail?

I wondered if the girl with the bluish ponytail was involved. She was an enigma, but I was certain she was someone in a position of authority.

“Princess…?”

Ghost was calling for my attention, so I decided Miss Ponytail was someone I would worry about later.

Nodding quickly, I came to a decision. “Don’t summon the Sarcophagus.”

The words left my lips sounding distended, and when I swallowed hastily, it felt slow in my mouth and throat. Experiencing both the world and my body while overclocked was an exercise in patience, but I needed the advantage it gave me, especially now that I was being hunted by an airborne sniper.

“Ghost, I need a fast route to the station.”

“Princess, there is no fast route.”

“Ghost!”

“Very well. Jump this balcony to the terrace steps beyond it. Then descend seventy floors to the maglev station. It will be to the north of you.”

Great—more of those giant steps!

The thought of giving Mirai’s breasts another workout made me cringe but jumping down the steps was probably the fastest way to descend the building’s exterior.

I pushed away from the balcony wall, however, instead of heading northwest, I ran toward the apartment’s window-wall to my right because the overhang from the floor above me offered some cover from the sniper in the air.

“Princess, what are you—?”

“Give me a sec!”

Pulling up the bottom of my blouse, I then rolled it up and tied it securely under Mirai’s breasts. I hoped the extra support would prevent them from bouncing painfully, but the downside was exposing Mirai’s toned midriff to the chilly, morning air. Fortunately, I was wearing my denim jacket and it kept some of the cold off my body. Then again, the cool air was the least of my worries because as I finished tying up the blouse, something long and narrow buried itself into the balcony floor a few feet away from me.

It discharged with an incandescent flash that scorched the air.

“Princess!”

Half blinded, I turned on instinct to my right, then ran unsteadily westward while keeping close to the apartment’s window-wall. For now, the overhang protected me from above but if the shooter chose to glide away from the building, they would have the angle to snipe at me again.

As I blinked quickly to clear my vision, I considered breaking into the apartment but doubted I could smash through the permaglass window-wall with just my hands and feet.

Damn, what I wouldn’t give for one Viper Vanquish right now!

Nonetheless, I resisted the burning temptation to summon the Sarcophagus.

Gotta do this on my own!

I sprinted out from under the overhang, and then made a jump for the permaglass wall encircling the apartment’s open-air balcony.

Through the transparent material, I could see the terraced steps on the other side.

Almost there!

However, as I leapt onto the wall, an electro-shock flechette seared the air below my feet.

Distracted by the burning discharge, I failed to tuck in my legs, and my feet clipped the top of the wall, flipping me over it.

I screamed in fear as I fell headfirst toward the ground four meters below me.

Fortunately, Mirai’s instincts came to the rescue. Reacting reflexively, she executed a somersault that had me landing unsteadily on my feet rather than on my face. But it was unexpected, and I was unable to catch my balance.

Pitching forward, I fell over the edge of the giant step.

This time there was nothing Mirai could do to save herself.

There were no fancy acrobatics to arrest my fall as I dropped past the five-foot riser and crashed hard on my back. I did remember to tuck my chin, and thus avoided hitting the back of my head on the permacrete. But the impact winded me, and I lay gasping for breath for precious seconds that I could ill afford to waste.

“Princess!”

I heard something strike the step I was lying on, followed by a blinding flash of lightning.

Searing heat scorched the left side of my body.

I screamed in pain – not in fear – as I rolled away from the electro-shock discharge.

My agony lasted only a few seconds and my vision returned quickly, but by then I had tumbled down another riser onto the next step. Again on my back, I spent precious seconds trying to recover my senses, before I succeeded in rolling over onto my hands and knees with a low, guttural groan.

“Princess—Princess!”

The impact had been painful, but it was the electro-shock that hurt the most. My left arm and flank felt burnt, however Mirai’s somewhat frightening ability to recover from falls that would otherwise break a human girl had me moving again seconds later.

Sucking in air through clenched teeth, I staggered up to my feet.

I didn’t know if the shot had missed me on purpose, but due warning had been served because if I was hit by an electro-shock flechette it was going to be sheer agony.

“Where is she?” I mumbled as I righted myself, then unsteadily jumped down to the tread of the step below me.

“She?”

Ghost sounded puzzled.

Realizing my slipup, I didn’t reply to him and continued descending in silence.

However, Ghost persisted. “Princess, did you say ‘she’?”

Something that I saw in my pursuer’s lifeforce aura gave me the strong impression that I was being chased by a woman, but I wasn’t going to reveal that to him. Besides, it was an impression that I didn’t understand myself.

“Princess, why makes you think—?”

“Ghost, just tell me where she is!”

There was a momentary pause before he replied, “She is approximately twelve floors above you.”

I leapt down a couple more steps. “You can see her?”

“No. I can see the glider pack she is wearing.”

I paused to ask, “How?” then jumped down another two steps in a single bound.

The landing was forceful, but I was learning to cushion it by relaxing my body and flexing my legs.

Ghost sounded sheepish. “I have gained access to a nearby police drone.”

“What?”

Shock almost made me mess up the next landing, and I had to drop to a crouch to catch my balance. “You’re accessing it or controlling it?”

“I am in control of it. I used your wetware as an ad hoc wireless point to gain access to the drone as it passed by.”

I sneered faintly.

That figures.

After descending another handful of steps, I paused to glance up the side of the building behind me.

Something whistled past my head just as I turned around.

Rather, it was more of a buzz than a whistle, as though a turbo-charged bee had shot past me.

Regardless, I ducked on instinct as a white-hot flash and sharp crackle filled the air close by for a couple of seconds. The heat from the electro-shock blast warmed my skin through the fabric of my denim jacket, and the fact that the flechette had discharged in the air was telling.

Shit—they’re proximity armed!

As soon as the blast of electricity faded, I was back on the move, leaping down two steps at a time.

“Ghost—I’ve got no cover! Do something!”

The steps were about three meters wide and two meters long. Flanked by the tall permaglass walls that fenced the apartment balconies, it was like travelling down a steep trench with me exposed to incoming fire from above. It wasn’t quite like shooting fish in a barrel. More like spearing fish in a narrow canal, and I was the fish.

I decided to alternate my jumps.

As randomly as possible, I dropped either one or two steps down the side of the enormous megascraper. Dropping three steps at a time was simply out of the question without the Princess Regalia. Lacking the support it offered me, my erratic pace soon had me cradling Mirai’s oversized bosom with an arm and that made for awkward landings. Yet desperate times called for desperate measures, and there was also a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

Some forty floors below me, I could see the maglev station and the elevated rail lines running past the megascraper, and that view sparked a glimmer of hope inside me.

“Princess, continue your descent. I will distract her.”

Focused on the station and on jumping, I was slow to ask, “How?”

My question was met by a loud boom from high overhead.

Startled, I landed in a crouch precariously close to the edge of a step. To prevent myself from tipping over the riser, I supported my body on outstretched hands, then hastily looked up to see glowing debris fluttering down the side of the building like burning leaves.

Was that the drone?

Searching the face of the towering megascraper, I spotted a lifeforce aura spiraling away to the south.

“Ghost, did you get her—?”

“Princess, do not stop!”

The burning debris was falling toward me.

Crap!

I hurriedly fled down the giant steps.

“Was that the drone? Did she shoot it?” I asked.

“Indeed.”

A hard landing made me wince at a sharp pang from Mirai’s breasts. I gasped before asking, “Isn’t that explosion going to attract attention?”

“That is precisely why I was reluctant to use it.”

I could argue that it made no difference since my pursuer had no qualms about firing flechettes that exploded with a bright flash and a loud bang. “Can you grab control of another drone?”

“Princess, concentrate on making the most of this opportunity.”

After executing another long jump that carried me down three steps, I angrily protested, “What the Hell do you think I’m doing?”

No matter how I supported Mirai’s breasts, or how much I crouched to absorb the impact, they were beginning to hurt more and more with each successive hard landing. You could say that Mirai’s self healing couldn’t keep up with my frantic pace. However, there was no stopping, and after catching my breath for a second, I resumed fleeing down the giant stairway.

Every so often I would pause to check above and behind me, but there was no sign of the unknown woman using the glider pack.

My gut instinct told me that she was circling counterclockwise around the building. She was probably gliding on the thermal air currents coursing between the megascrapers. That reminded me of the seagulls I used to watch from my classroom window, coasting in the air off the shores of Telos Island. The memory felt like a lifetime ago, yet it was only last Friday that I’d sat in class watching them.

Thinking of my how much I’d lost made me bitter.

I swallowed it down, then searched for the maglev station platform, quickly spotting it some ten or twelve floors below me.

The station’s transparent, permaglass roof resembled a slippery slide, like those found at amusement parks. However, because the station was constructed against the side of the megascraper, the roof also had the appearance of a chute coming out of the building. This was because the station had multiple entrances spanning several floors. The permaglass roof was quite wide at around a hundred feet, but the station platform was easily three times wider, and it was covered by a transparent canopy – a giant awning – that also stretched over the elevated track lines.

While it protected commuters from the gusting wind and weather elements, the broad canopy would make it difficult for me to enter the station from outside the building. I’d have to drop onto an elevated track and then sneak onto the platform. Even if Ghost blinded the security cameras, I was likely to be noticed by the people on the platforms waiting for the next maglev to arrive.

I stopped jumping down the steps upon arriving at a point adjacent to the top of the station’s slippery-slide roof. Peering through the transparent canopy, I saw numerous escalators leading down to the station’s concourse.

“Ghost, do you have a way in—?”

A flash of hot light to my one o’clock blinded me.

The smell of ozone and the crackle of electricity were hallmarks of an electro-shock discharge. When my vision somewhat cleared, I saw a blackened section of the permaglass wall in front of me. The transparent wall ran down the side of the building, separating the giant permacrete stairs from the station’s sloped roof. Because it was tall, it had stopped the flechette from detonating dangerously near my head. Adding to my good fortune, Mirai’s eyes quickly recovered, and I blinked away the last vestiges of my mottled vision.

With my mind overclocked, I had a few internal seconds to analyze the situation.

As I’d guessed, my pursuer had indeed circled counterclockwise around the building, and she was now effectively to the north-northeast of me.

So what was my next move?

I chose to err on the side of danger by jumping the wall keeping me from the station’s roof.

Why? Because I figured it was the fastest way down to the station’s platforms.

“Princess!”

“Trust me,” I yelled as I landed on the station’s giant slippery slide.

As I’d thought, the transparent surface was as slick as it looked, and I quickly ended up on my backside. Feeling like a kid again, I slid down the roof toward the maglev platform about fifty meters below me.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing…or should I say smooth sliding.

Chased by electro-shock flechettes, I yelped loudly as I jerked away from a near miss. The blast superheated the air for a mere second, but long enough to singe my denim jacket.

Worse still, I lost control of my descent.

As I tumbled and slid down the roof, I started to think I’d made the wrong call. However, my erratic course made me a hard target, helping me avoid the flechettes that followed.

I really couldn’t imagine how anybody inside the station would fail to notice the light show happening above them. Regardless, after coming to a messy stop where the roof flattened out above the station’s concourse, I hastily picked myself up then ran over onto the immense awning that covered the two platforms beside the track lines.

Shooting glances over a shoulder, I kept track of my pursuer by her lifeforce aura.

She was gliding toward me from the northeast, probably three hundred feet away and some fifty feet above me. Mindful of her approach, I looked down through the transparent awning at the platforms and saw dozens of people standing on them. The fact that nobody was looking up surprised me, but would they notice me if I jumped down from the roof onto a track line?

What I needed was a distraction or a passing train to glide into the station.

By a stroke of good luck, that’s exactly what happened next.

Below me, a sleek, gunmetal grey maglev glided to a stop between the two platforms, then opened its carriage doors.

I took this for another sign that the Goddess of Good Fortune was watching out for me. I had no idea what I’d done to deserve her blessing, but if I survived this night, I planned to build her a little shrine and thank her with daily offerings.

So why was this a turn for the better? Because with the maglev parked at the station, the commuters were too preoccupied to look up. It was the opportunity I needed to sneak aboard, and I wasn’t going to waste it.

Accelerating to a dead sprint, I did my best to ignore Mirai’s bouncing bosom as I headed for the southern end of the giant awning that overhung the platforms, until a flechette buried itself into the transparent roofing, and then vented its electrical fury just as I ran past it.

Tendrils of lightning caressed my legs causing their muscles to convulse.

I stumbled, then belly flopped onto the roof, landing hard on Mirai’s chest.

Momentum carried me forward and I slid on the smooth surface for a few feet. Coming to a stop, I gasped and groaned in pain as my legs spasmed uncontrollably for a handful of seconds before Mirai’s unnatural ability to recover from injury once again rescued me. Within seconds, I was crawling on my hands and knees, frantic to escape aboard the maglev before it departed. Desperation drove me back onto my feet, just as another flechette plunged into the roof and discharged.

My unsteady legs failed me, and I was unable to jump clear of the blast, but that didn’t stop me from trying. Electricity painfully raked me as I leapt away, burning my clothes and exposed skin. Once again, I landed on Mirai’s belly, then gasped in agony for a short while before pushing myself up onto my elbows.

I twisted my neck around to look behind me.

The lifeforce aura silhouetting my translucent pursuer was floating down to the station’s awning over the platforms. Above the golden light, I could see a shadowy shape resembling a hang-glider but much smaller. Since her thermoptic camouflage rendered her nearly invisible, I wondered why I could faintly see the glider.

As I watched her descend, a tiny flash of light appeared ahead of her body.

What the—?

Mirai’s body reacted instinctively, throwing herself aside with enough force to send me rolling away from a detonation that lit up the air and burned the permaglass roofing I’d been lying on.

She fired right at me!

Until now, I’d harbored a faint belief that she’d been purposely avoiding a direct hit, but now I knew better.

Goddamned, crazy bitch!

If not for Mirai’s preternatural reflexes, I would have been enveloped in an electrical storm. Yet though I’d been spared from the brunt of it, I was grazed again, and I cried out as the electrified air blistered my exposed belly. I breathed heavily for a few seconds as the burning sensation quickly faded away, and then I was back on the move. With a herculean effort, and a groan to match, I launched myself onto my feet. But lacking the traction of the Regalia’s boots, my sneakers slipped repeatedly on the permaglass underfoot.

Move, move—MOVE!

I persevered and was soon charging again toward the southern end of the roof where it hung over the parked maglev.

Whenever I overclocked, time moved quickly within my mind giving me the impression that I was running in slow motion.

However, this time something unexpected happened.

For one second, Mirai’s body caught up with my overclocked awareness and suddenly I rocketed forward over the edge of the awning. A split second later, I was flailing wildly as I fell a few meters onto the stationary maglev.

Landing with a hard whump onto the lead carriage, my vision swam.

I was winded, so only a strangled cry escaped my lips as pain shot through Mirai’s breasts. Feeling as though they’d been lanced by knitting needles, I tried to quickly get off my chest but only succeeded in sluggishly rolling over onto my back. Now looking skyward, I caught sight of my pursuer’s golden aura as it descended toward me. As I did so, I had the impression that I’d made eye contact with her. She was almost transparent so I couldn’t see her face, yet I was convinced our eyes had met. It made my heart stumble for a beat. However, my heart then jumped in fright when I sensed the maglev start to move.

Wait, wait, wait! I’m not aboard yet!

Yelling at it inside my head wasn’t going to make it stop, so I decided to be vocal about it. But no sooner had I opened my mouth when I was silenced by a single thought.

Why had the maglev started moving?

Its safety systems should have kept it stationary if someone was riding on top of it, so why the Hell was it now in motion?

I propped myself up using my elbows.

“Princess, stay down!”

Startled by Ghost’s shout, I fell back and lay flat. “What? Why—?”

“The aero-field that reduces drag around the maglev extends fourteen inches beyond the carriage. Breach the field and you will be swept away. You need to stay under it.”

I quickly understood what he meant.

There was an effect-field that acted like a frictionless glove around the maglev’s carriages. This reduced drag thereby allowing the train to move quickly without being impeded by the air around it. Effectively, it turned the maglev into a sharp knife rather than a blunt object, but it also meant that I had to remain within the field or I risked being blown off as the train moved swiftly through the city.

Lying supine on the maglev’s roof, I spread my arms wide to maintain some semblance of balance as the train swiftly accelerated. However, I was soon sliding down the length of the carriage.

No, no, no!

In desperation, I planted my sneakered feet flat on the roof, but this bent my legs and raised my knees above the aero-form field. Caught in the turbulent air flowing over the carriage, I was dragged faster down the roof. I had no choice but to lie flat again and pray that I would stop sliding when the maglev stopped accelerating.

As my body steadily inched toward the rear of the train, I peered above Mirai’s breasts at the woman chasing me. Up in the air, her lifeforce aura was slowly shrinking as the maglev raced away from her. Since departing the station, the gap between us had widened to a few hundred feet. Unfortunately, that was little consolation when I saw a pinprick of blue light flash in front of her.

In that instant, time slowed down even more for me.

At first, I thought it was Ghost’s handiwork, but I wasn’t hearing his voice in my ears, so I then wondered if it was Mirai’s doing. Regardless, it didn’t matter who or what was responsible. What mattered was that I had a little extra time to consider my options before the flechette hit me.

So what were my options?

I could choose to do nothing and get electro-shocked, or I could chance a risky maneuver and pray that the Goddess of Good Fortune had not abandoned me yet.

I went for the latter option – the risky move.

Bending my knees sharply, I threw my arms into the air.

Almost instantly the raging current of air around the train yanked me toward the foot of the carriage with frightening speed. Luckily, the maglev happened to be travelling in a straight line. Had it been turning a corner, I would have flown off the carriage. Nonetheless, my body began to spin as it slid along the roof.

This and the aero-field saved me.

The flechette released its lightning charge but it had been knocked off target by the aero-field that gloved the maglev. It missed the top of my head by a couple of feet, and the ensuing burst of electrical energy singed my hair and scalp. For a moment, I even feared my eyeballs would explode but they didn’t.

Thankfully, I’d avoided the worst of the blast. However, I was addled and blinded, my head hurt, and there was a faint ringing in my ears.

For a short while afterwards, I could barely see the city buildings zipping past me. If the woman fired at me now, I wouldn’t notice her taking the shot, but wasn’t all bad news.

I was alive and still on the maglev.

When my vision cleared up many seconds later, I peered around me and discovered that I’d been dragged to the tail end of the carriage where my sneakered feet had caught onto the ribbed tubing connecting the carriages.

With a sigh of relief, I then looked up and searched for my pursuer.

At sight of her aura dwindling into the distance, I weakly chuckled at my narrow escape, and some of the tension left my body. However, I refused to relax because I wasn’t out of the woods yet.

If the woman fired at me from a distance, the speeding maglev and its aero-form field would make it hard for her to hit me. Thus, I was safe while the train was moving, but since there weren’t stations at every building I didn’t know when it would stop again, and if the maglev stopped for too long, she could catch up to me.

On the other hand, I didn’t expect her to take another shot at me. All the shooting she had done was bound to draw attention to me, though once again, I was surprised there wasn’t a fleet of Enforcer drones in hot pursuit.

Had they been diverted?

Had someone hacked them to keep the night sky clear of prying eyes?

Was it the Sanreals doing?

Yet more questions to ponder later, but having said all that, the Sanreals were an unknown quantity to me. Not knowing how far they would go to protect me or bring me back – or how much they would risk in the process – I chose to be cautious. Thus, I kept a watchful eye on the woman’s aura as it shrank into the distance, but a short while later, I noticed it wasn’t shrinking anymore – it was growing larger and shining stronger as though she was gaining on the swift maglev.

What the FREK?

I cleared my throat, swallowing down some of the panic welling up in my chest.

“Hey, Ghost?”

“Princess, are you all right?”

I stopped short of nodding. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, but she’s catching up.”

There was a distressing amount of silence from Ghost.

“Hey, are you there?” I asked. “I said she’s catching up.”

“Princess, I believe I have erred.”

My heart felt like it had been squeezed by cold hands. “You what?”

“She is not using a glider pack.”

“Then what the frek is she—?”

“It is a flight pack.”

The proverbial penny dropped inside my head with the weight of an anvil. “Oh….”

That certainly explained how she was able to gain ground on a maglev moving at 200 klicks an hour.

“So now what?” I muttered while fighting down a sudden, cold despair. “It doesn’t look like she’s giving up.”

Ghost was again silent for a long moment before reporting, “I am afraid there are no drones in the vicinity that I can commandeer.”

I turned my head to look at the megascrapers zipping past me, towering like canyon walls around the track.

When my consciousness was overclocked, my surroundings usually moved slowly around me. But the maglev was racing between the city-state buildings so the scenery was flashing by at a dangerous speed. Perhaps I could jump off the maglev and onto a megascraper, but only if the train decelerated considerably. Even so, I’d still be risking life and limb, and I didn’t know if the Angel Fibers could save Mirai back from the brink of death if she went splat against a permacrete wall.

Maybe, I was taking Mirai and her Angel Fibers for granted.

The notion troubled me, and I resumed watching the woman’s growing lifeforce aura as she steadily chased down the maglev.

I need to find my own solution to this problem.

Yet, having thought that, I knew full well that I’d be relying on Mirai’s unnatural strength to pull off another daring escape.

I need to find a way off this maglev.

“Ghost, can you hack into this train and slow it down? Don’t bring it to a stop, just slow it down enough for me to jump off.”

“Princess, what are you planning?”

“Can you slow it down or not?”

I had a suspicion Ghost had earlier hacked into the maglev’s controls because it had pulled away from the station shortly after I fell onto its roof. It seemed like too much of a coincidence sprinkled with good fortune. However, I grew concerned when he didn’t reply to me right away.

“Ghost? Can you do it?” I waited for a couple of long seconds. “Hello? You there?”

After a short while, Ghost replied, “Very well. I can have the Assisting Intelligence execute an emergency—Princess, brace yourself!”

Hearing his warning, I began rolling over onto my belly, but the maglev abruptly decelerated and I started sliding helplessly toward the front of the carriage.

“Ghost, wait—wait! I wasn’t ready!”

Because I was lying atop the lead carriage, I was now in danger of falling off the front of the train onto the meter-wide track. And if I fell off, I was likely to be run over by the maglev despite the fact it was rapidly slowing down.

“Ghost—damn it! I said wait! WAIT!”

“Princess, this is not my doing!”

“What?”

As I doubted my ears, the maglev continued braking hard, and I frantically rolled over onto my belly just as I slipped helplessly down the front of the aerodynamic snout of the lead carriage. There was no stopping my fall, and I tumbled painfully hard onto the track. Mirai’s body then rolled precariously on the narrow rail as the train loomed over me.

There was no room to slip under the floating maglev, and no way to avoid the duckbilled snout that slammed into my right shoulder.

I felt it break and would have screamed in agony, but Mirai was trying to save herself even as she fell over the side of the track. Her hands and fingers scrabbled to hold onto the edge, but it was smoothly rounded, and a terrified heartbeat later, I lost my grip and fell from the elevated rail line.

To my surprise, I didn’t scream as I plummeted.

Instead, I looked down fully expecting to see a distant, city street rushing up to meet me. But to my disbelief, what I saw was a cluster of trees shooting up toward my feet.

What the Hell?

I crashed into a thick canopy of leaves and branches.

Like the ball in a pinball machine, I bounced off tree limbs and broke others before landing on packed soil riddled with hard roots. Rolling to a stop against a tree trunk, I lay supine in blinding agony that stole my breath.

It was a while before I could even gasp for air.

Mirai’s body hurt all over, and my right shoulder – broken by the maglev’s snout – burned so intensely that I saw white spots dancing in my eyes.

Yet I was alive and in one piece, and for that I was eternally grateful.

Taking shallow breaths, I prayed softly to the Angel Fibers while waiting for the pain in my shoulder to ease up. I don’t know how long I lay there – it could have been ten or twenty seconds – but it felt like a minute later before I was able to prop myself on my elbows. I gasped and groaned loudly as my shoulder complained with sharp, blinding pangs, but I persevered and eventually braced myself against the tree trunk behind me.

Sitting slouched, I bent my neck to look down at myself.

I was indeed in one piece but quite battered and bruised. There were cut and scrapes over my exposed midriff, my clothes were a mess with numerous rips and tears, and though my right shoulder was still aflame, I was able to move the arm again.

However, I had no idea where I was.

There was greenery in Ar Telica, but it was spotty at best. Most of the parks were located near the shoreline, so perhaps I was close to the harbor. Then again, there were some elevated plazas high over the streets that were big enough for a park, so perhaps I’d landed on one of them.

“Princess? Princess, you need to hurry.”

Ghost sounded loud in my head.

I winced, then swallowed to clear my throat. “What…? What is it?”

“You need to move, Princess.”

“Why—?”

Abruptly, I heard several different voices coming from nearby. They were faint but growing louder as they drew closer. Soon, Mirai’s sharp hearing caught fragments of conversations.

“…are you sure someone fell…?”

“…I saw someone too….”

“…a girl….”

“…yeah, I thought so too….”

“…she was hit by the train and fell in here….”

“…oh gods, do you think she’s still alive…?”

I saw indistinct silhouettes moving between the trees, and my heart jumped in panic.

Not knowing where I was didn’t seem important anymore. Instead, getting out of here became my immediate priority.

Struggling up to my feet, I relied on the tree behind me for support, but my right shoulder screamed at me in protest when I leaned on it. Too late, I bit down on a sharp gasp that escaped my lips.

“…hey, someone’s there….”

“…what…?”

“…I heard someone cry out….”

“…where…?”

“…over there….”

“…See? I told you someone fell….”

“…then she’s still alive….”

Shit! They heard me!

Pushing through the fading pain, I clambered unsteadily over the roots, and fled away from my would-be rescuers.

“Princess, turn to your right. Head south. Hurry.”

I could hear the men’s voices somewhere faint behind me, so I hurried along on rubbery legs while guided by Mirai’s magnetic sense.

“Keep going, Princess. You are almost there.”

“Almost where—?”

Quite suddenly, I emerged out from between the trees into a wide plaza that spanned the gap between two immense megascrapers. Think of it like a hammock strung flat between two giant trees. Despite the early morning hour, the place was teeming with people, and most of them were staring with shock and amusement at something overhead.

“What the Hell…?” I muttered, then looked up to see what they were staring at. “Oh, crap….”

The sleek maglev was parked on an elevated rail line high above me. The train was directly over a mini forest of trees located smack dab in the middle of the enormous plaza.

Shaking my head gently in disbelief, I softly murmured, “So that’s what happened.”

To think there was something like this in the middle of the city.

Ghost spoke with urgency. “Princess, you must keep moving. Head into the building to the east. You need to get off the plaza. Hurry.”

Aware of the men in the forest searching for me, I turned to my right, looking eastward to see the entrance to a towering megascraper some fifty meters away.

“Right…,” I muttered and started walking toward it.

However, a few steps later, the sounds of a commotion erupted behind me, and I looked back to see the crowd on the plaza staring at me.

While some of them pointed at me, others quickly aimed their phone cameras in my direction.

Oh, shit!

“Princess, hurry!”

In a blur of motion, I spun away from the crowd and then broke into a run. Thankfully, my legs no longer felt rubbery as I bolted for the entrance. There was no time to fix up my clothes as I rushed through the wide opening and into the megascraper. However, just before entering the building, I happened to glance upwards. It was only for a split second, but that was all it took for my blood to run cold. Then I was inside the megascraper, running fast down a wide corridor that was bordered by shops. It was around a hundred meters long and ended at an enormous atrium – an architectural design trait common to many of the giant buildings in Ar Telica.

Circling the atrium, I hurried through the building, weaving past a slow, moving stream of people that were either window shopping, or coming and going from the dozens of retail outlets on this floor.

“Princess, you can stop now. You are drawing attention to yourself.”

But I didn’t stop.

I kept running out of the building, onto a wide bridgeway, and then across toward another megascraper.

“Princess—!”

“She’s still out there,” I snapped at him as I barreled into the building.

Like before, I ran down a wide corridor that ended at a balcony surrounding the ubiquitous atrium found in so many of Ar Telica’s megascrapers.

“Princess, how do you know?”

Ghost didn’t sound like he was doubting me. Rather, he seemed to be genuinely asking for an explanation.

I swallowed as I ran. “Because I saw her.”

This time, there was doubt in his voice. “You saw her?”

“Yes, I saw her!”

I could have added a growl but that would have wasted energy. Instead, I circled the atrium, using it like a round-about in the middle of a street, and then sprinted down a corridor that led south out of the building. The exit/entrance opened onto another interconnecting bridgeway high above the city streets.

“Princess, stop. This is fruitless.”

Ignoring him, I covered the hundred meter distance to the next building in a handful of seconds, and well under Olympic record time.

“Princess, she can track you!”

I was deep into the megascraper when Ghost’s words hit home. Their impact was like crashing through a wall, and I staggered and stumbled, before slowing down to a jog.

“…what did you…what did you say…?”

Like the other buildings I’d fled through, this one also had a giant atrium running through the middle, ringed by a balcony at each floor, and home to a dozen elevators that ran up and down the height of the building from within transparent tubes made of tinted permaglass.

Changing direction toward that atrium, my jog slowed to a harried walk. Seconds later, I arrived at the balcony guardrail and I grabbed onto the cold metal, using it to support myself lest I collapse onto my knees. While leaning on the railing, I swallowed with some difficulty, feeling as though icy hands had clamped around my throat, strangling me.

“…Ghost, what did you say? Tell me….”

Mirai had been sprinting for a minute now, and yet her heart beat to a calm, steady rhythm, in stark contrast to the severe anxiety I was experiencing that was causing her body to tremble and shake while I anxiously waited for an answer from Ghost.

“…tell me what you said…tell me, please….”

He must have understood what I was feeling because he sounded cautious. “Princess, I believe she can track you.”

“How…?” I whispered.

“I suspect there are tracking filaments embedded in your clothes.”

Understanding what he said, I inhaled a sharp, ragged breath, then squeezed my eyes shut.

I clung to the guardrail for such a long while, that eventually the cold metal warmed to my touch. It creaked when I clenched my fingers around it, while my body shivered as I rode out the storm inside me. With time and effort, I slowly brought my emotions under control, and then I slowly opened my eyes to look down at my clothes in contempt.

“Tracking filaments?” I murmured.

“I believe so, Princess.”

Resisting the urge to tear off my clothes off, I chose to straighten them instead.

I brushed away the soil and leaves that clung to them.

I untied my blouse so that it fell back down over my torso.

Then, I raked my fingers through Mirai’s long black hair, and briefly mulled tying it up into a ponytail, but for some reason that made me feel annoyed, so I left it flowing loosely down my back.

When I felt calmer, I took a couple of deep breaths, and then looked out into building’s open interior. The grandeur of the atrium that rose from the ground floor to the distant ceiling was lost on me as I continued to struggle against dark, lingering emotions that I recognized as frustration and despair.

“Princess….?”

Exhaling slowly, I had to swallow twice before I could trust my voice wouldn’t break when I used it again.

“Ghost, I’m only going to say this once so pay attention.”

“Aye, Princess.”

I nodded at his reply then endured a sudden, cold shiver that washed through my body, leaving me in a state of icy calm.

“Ghost, start talking and don’t you dare leave anything out.”

---

Thank you for getting this far.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The new "The Gun Princess Royale" will hopefully be release on Amazon Kindle as an eBook in August, 2023.
It all depends on what issues my editor friend finds with the story.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

Amidst the political maneuvering, while slowly reconciling his past as Ronin Kassius, Isabel faces a new threat from Tabitha Hexen who reveals her own agenda in wanting to fight Mirai in a Gun Princess Royale battle.

---

“Princess, before I proceed there is something I must ask.”

“I thought I was doing the asking.”

“Princess, please oblige me.”

“Fine. What’s the question?”

“Where did you see her?”

My gut twinged. “Where did I see her?”

“I was unable to establish a visual lock on her. In other words, I lost sight of her. Therefore, Princess, where was she?”

I exhaled loudly but slowly, giving myself time to choose my words carefully. “I saw her on the side of the building. She was standing on a ledge of some sort. I caught sight of her when I happened to look up.”

Though she was hiding behind a thermoptic camouflage field, her lifeforce aura gave her away. That was what caught my eye against the building’s bleak exterior façade moments before I ran into the megascraper.

Ghost was quiet for a long while before asking in a slow, troubled voice, “Princess, you…saw…her?”

At first, I scowled at the question but then stiffened sharply as I realized something so obvious that it stunned me.

Ghost couldn’t see everything that I could.

He was partly aware of my surroundings because he was tapped into Mirai’s senses, but he wasn’t able to see the life force aura surrounding people. It explained why he was surprised that I could see the woman standing on the side of the building, and why he was puzzled when I referred to my pursuer in the female pronoun.

“Princess?”

My thoughts circled fast like the ball bouncing on a roulette wheel, and when it stopped spinning, they landed on one question.

Should I tell him the truth?

“Princess, how did you—?”

No, bad idea.

“I saw her glider pack,” I blurted in a hurry. “I saw her camouflaged glider pack.”

Ghost was quiet…unnervingly quiet…so I decided to fill in the silence.

“There was light behind her on the ledge. Because of that I was able to see her ghostly glider pack. That’s how I knew it was her.” What I told him wasn’t entirely a lie which was why I took a chance to suggest, “Why don’t you replay my memories?”

“Princess?”

I smiled resentfully. “You can see what I see, hear what I hear, so why not replay my memories? Aren’t you recording everything I see and hear for posterity?”

Once again, Ghost was disconcertingly silent for a long while.

Come on. Don’t disappoint me, Ghost. I know you’re riding my senses. Take a look, see for yourself if I’m lying.

That was what this little exchange was about. It was about trust, and whether we were being honest with each other, so who would come out on top?

“Very well, Princess.”

His solemn response made my heartrate quicken as I waited with bated breath.

Would he confirm what I’d seen, or would he lie about it because truthfully, I didn’t know for certain if he could see through Mirai’s eyes. However, when he spoke again, Ghost sounded humbled.

“Aye, Princess. She was there all along. Your eyesight is truly remarkable.”

I slowly frowned, puzzled about how his words made me feel.

On one hand, I was relieved that he’d confirmed what I’d told him, but on the other hand, I felt somewhat violated knowing that he was in fact looking through my eyes, though he wasn’t able to see everything that Mirai could. Caught between the two emotions, I bowed my head and exhaled heavily as I leaned on the guardrail.

In the end, I guess it made me feel dirty, and it was hardly pleasant.

Raising my head, I stared across the open expanse of the atrium. “Okay, Ghost, your turn. Start talking.”

This time he was quiet for a short while before asking, “Princess, before I begin, please tell me what you intend to do?”

“Ghost, answering a question with a question is rude.”

“I acknowledge that. Nonetheless, please tell me what you intend to do.”

“About what?”

“Do you intend to continue running?”

I had the impression that wasn’t what he really meant to ask me, thus I found his beating-around-the-bush most annoying. However, at face value it was a fair question that he’d posed, so I took a page from his book and replied with one of my own.

“What’s the point of running if she can track me?”

“Indeed.”

“Indeed?” I sharply narrowed my eyes. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Spit it out before I get angry.”

“You may not want to hear what I have to say.”

I snorted loudly. “That’s for me to decide.”

“As you wish, Princess. Then allow me to come clean, so to speak.”

“About what?”

“I did not stop the maglev.”

I was confused at first, but when I caught his drift, my eyes grew wide open. “You didn’t?”

“No. I did not trigger the maglev’s emergency stop, nor did I accelerate its departure from the station in your time of need.”

I quickly reviewed both events in my mind.

Back when the maglev had rushed out of the station, I’d thanked the Goddess of Good Fortune for saving me. At least now I knew it wasn’t Ghost who’d been acting in her stead.

“Does this mean I’m blessed?” I wondered aloud. “Is the Goddess of Good Fortune really looking out for me?”

“Princess, I am not sure how to answer that.”

I shook my head and waved a hand. “Well, if it wasn’t the Goddess who saved me, then who did?”

“While I sincerely doubt a higher power was involved, it is nonetheless a very good question.”

But was I ready for the answer?

I considered Ghost’s earlier question regarding what I intended to do next, and ended up looking in the direction of the wide corridor leading northward out of the megascraper – the same corridor through which I’d entered the building a few minutes ago.

Staring hard at it, I asked myself a simple question with no simple answer.

Would she come after me? In other words, with her thermoptic camouflage, would my pursuer make her way into the building?

The only way I could see her would be if I spotted a lifeforce aura surrounding nothing but empty air. However, with numerous people coming and going into the building, and hundreds more ambling about on the various balconies encircling the atrium, it would be difficult for me to pick her out from the crowd because there were too many auras radiating from too many bodies. That worked in her favor, and she could hide herself from view while tracking me from a distance.

In short, I was at a disadvantage…or was I?

Would she make a move on me with so many people around? Would she risk sneaking up on me?

No, something in my gut told me that we’d moved onto the next stage, and the chase was now a game of wait-and-see, but was the next move mine to make or was it hers?

And then there was Ghost’s admission to consider.

“So, you have no idea who helped me out?”

“I have one or two suspects…none of whom are deities.”

I sneered at his jibe, then cocked my head slightly. “How about the Sanreals?”

“Possibly…though unlikely.”

“Then who? Who else do you suspect?” When he answered me with silence, I whispered harshly at him, “Ghost, tell me…now.”

“I would rather not say until I have collected more information.”

That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, and I exhaled in exasperation through clenched teeth.

If the Sanreals hadn’t lent me a helping hand, and it wasn’t Ghost or the Goddess, then who had? Were they friend or foe, in which case, had my running away from Erina exposed me to danger from them? Thus, was I at risk of falling into somebody else’s clutches?

“Damn it.” I growled under my breath. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

Looking down, I noticed I was clenching my hands.

I forced them open, and then shook them to relax my fingers.

However, the oppressive combination of despair and frustration in my chest was something I couldn’t dispel. It pressed upon my lungs, making it uncomfortable for me to breathe. Adding in all the uncertainty surrounding me, I felt as though the ground would swallow me up without warning.

In a panic, I looked away from the corridor, while simultaneously turning my back on the atrium that I now regarded as the proverbial abyss.

Struggling to calm down, I found myself facing the shops on this floor.

Many of Ar Telica’s megascrapers had retail outlets occupying their lower levels – say the first 10 to 15 floors out of a few hundred. This building was no different from them, and there were dozens of shops encircling the atrium on the level I was standing on, and almost all of them were still open for business, catering to the slow moving crowd of shoppers ambling by.

Standing directly opposite me and across the crowd was a ghostly girl.

At sight of her, my heart jumped in fright and a cold shiver raced through me.

It took me a few seconds to realize it was Mirai’s reflection in a shop window about a dozen meters away. It took a while longer for me to calm down, and when I’d sufficiently recovered, I walked away from the balcony railing, through the crowd, and over to the front of the store.

“Princess, where are you going?”

I ignored Ghost as I stopped before the windowpane, then quietly studied Mirai’s reflection. Unlike the VTOL’s cabin windows, the shopfront window clearly reflected her tousled state, and my chest filled with deepening regret the longer I stared at her battered appearance.

“What have I done…?” I whispered softly as I met Mirai’s eyes.

Not only had I taken her for granted, but I had also made her suffer because of my impulsive nature. It was true that she had presented a defensive posture to the Simulacra Sisters, and that had sent them the wrong message, but it was my loss of control that gave Pearson a reason to hit the panic button, and Mirai had suffered for it. Now with the distinct possibility that someone else was toying with me, I deeply regretted how I’d treated her.

There was a saying, “My body is my temple.”

I certainly hadn’t treated my temple very well.

To take the analogy further, Mirai wasn’t a car that I could drive around madly and then hand back. Granted, she was more of a tank, but that wasn’t an excuse to drive her through walls and expect her to come through without a scratch. That said, my shoulder felt healed and I doubted there was even a blemish on her belly after all the scorching it had received. Either way, in holding true to the analogy, Mirai wasn’t something – or someone – I could trade-in when I was done with her.

It forced me to admit a very bitter truth.

“Maybe, I could have done things differently….”

Overwhelmed with guilt and regret, I was unable to look her reflection in the eye, and so I turned away from Mirai and stood with my back to the windowpane.

I knew that by doing so I was shutting her out, but I simply couldn’t face her.

“Princess, are you all right…?”

I shook my head slowly. “No, no I’m not….”

Deep regret wrapped itself around my heart – regret at the toll my actions had inflicted on Mirai.

I sighed heavily and my breathing was shaky. “Ghost, did I make a mistake by running?”

“Perhaps, Princess, perhaps.”

I took another deep breath that I then slowly released as I regarded my surroundings.

If Ghost was to be believed, then I had many problems to contend with, however, the woman hunting me down was the most immediate of them.

“What do I do?” I whispered to myself. “What do I do if she comes after me?”

However, it was Ghost who replied, “The question, Princess, is whether you intend to continue running.”

I mulled it over, then decided, “I’ll stop running when they stop chasing me.”

“That will take some time to arrange. Indeed, I believe it best to allow your sister to handle that matter. I can lend her my support, but your actions are difficult to justify.”

I clicked my tongue at him. “You’re blaming me for this?”

“No, I blame Doctor Pearson. However, while she lit the fire, you gave her the fuel that turned a candle flame into a bonfire.”

“Thanks for your support,” I groused.

“I am simply saying it like it is,” he retorted.

I huffed loudly, then turned around to glance at Mirai’s reflection.

Again, the deep regret I felt pushed my other feelings aside.

I despised what Erina had done to me, but had I subconsciously vented out my feelings on Mirai because she was Erina’s creation?

Since waking up inside and in control of her, had I ever treated Mirai with care and respect?

What have I been doing all this time?

The answer was simple.

I had run her ragged from the get-go.

I had put her life on the line numerous times.

I had used her like she was someone else’s property…and someone else’s problem.

However, Mirai was an innocent just like I was, and while I had yet to accept her as me – or myself as her – I couldn’t continue treating her this way. I had to stop subjecting Mirai to the anger, resentment, and hatred that I felt toward Erina because Mirai wasn’t my punching bag.

My body is my temple, and Mirai is my temple.

Ghost intruded into my thoughts as I arrived at a painful, yet necessary understanding.

“Princess, I ask you again. Do you wish to continue running?”

The question made me shudder involuntarily, and I forced myself to meet Mirai’s eyes reflected in the permaglass window.

She had taken a beating, yet her gaze remained strong and unyielding.

I also believed that she understood how I felt, and that she was forgiving me, or at the very least, she was willing to give me another chance.

Honestly, I wasn’t ready to forgive myself for treating her – and thereby me – without regard, but I needed to make a change, and now was as good a time as any.

Taking a deep, quiet breath, I then released it loudly in a rush. “Ghost, I don’t plan on getting shot.”

“Then you intend to continue running?”

I wet my lips slowly. “Maybe….”

“Very well, Princess, then I suggest you change your clothes. I am now certain there are tracking filaments embedded into them. If you wish to improve your chances of eluding pursuit, then a change of clothes is in order.”

A slow frown spread across my forehead as I looked behind Mirai’s reflection at the mannequins inside the store modelling this summer’s fashion, and at the previews of the upcoming spring lineup displayed on rotating holovid billboards.

“Maybe,” I murmured again, feeling uneasy all of a sudden, and the longer I looked at the clothes on display, the more unsettled I became because changing clothes and running was beginning to feel like the wrong choice to make, but I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet.

Keeping my voice at a mere whisper, I gave the mannequins and holo-billboards a steady look. “Ghost, there’s a shop right in front of me, but I don’t have any money on me. I don’t even have my phone. So how can I get a change of clothes?”

“Princess, I have access to your accounts. I can quote to you the sixteen digit security code that will grant you access to a stipend from your trust fund.”

My frown deepened and so too did Mirai’s. “My trust fund?”

“Yes, the trust fund containing your three hundred and sixty million dorans.”

My thoughts shattered like a stained-glass window with a brick thrown through it, and my mind blanked out for a moment.

When I could think again, I was still at a loss.

Three hundred and sixty million dorans? THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY MILLION!

The things I could do with that money.

I could buy myself an island, or a starship, or an asteroid retreat somewhere in the Kempfer Belt at the edge of the solar system.

Wait—why would I want to buy myself a rock in the middle of nowhere?

Thinking the idea ludicrous, I didn’t notice Ghost was calling out to me. He sounded very far away, though gradually drawing nearer.

“…Princess…Princess…Teloria to the Princess. Anybody home?”

I closed my eyes for a moment. “Ghost, I can hear you. I just need a moment.”

“Princess, a moment is something you do not have.”

Opening my eyes, I drawled out, “Fine. I get it. But if I use that money, won’t they know that I’ve accessed the account?”

“Indeed, they will. Therefore, I have another suggestion.”

I grimaced in anticipation before muttering, “I’m all ears.”

“The charity donation bins.”

I might have been wrong, but Ghost sounded a tad cheerful when he said that. However, I paid it little mind. Instead, what forcefully grabbed my attention was suddenly realizing what I’d failed to pin down earlier – that changing clothes was a bad idea.

I shook my head slowly. “I can’t do that.”

“You will not raid the charity donation bins?”

“No, Ghost. I mean changing clothes. I won’t do it.”

Ghost paused before guardedly asking, “Why not, Princess?”

“Because it’s a bad idea.” I crossed my arms slowly. “If I change clothes, the Sanreals won’t send just one person after me. They’ll send an army. And I can’t run from an army.”

It would also escalate my already dire situation into a really, really bad one.

However, there was another option to choose from – one I’d been subconsciously considering ever since I lamented putting Mirai through the wringer.

It was the unpleasant notion of reaching a compromise.

I exhaled slowly, suddenly fatigued as I made a most difficult decision.

“Ghost, I want to talk Erina.”

I chose not to change clothes – at least for now – since doing so would impact on my negotiations with Erina.

Instead, I decided to purchase a phone.

Courtesy of Mirai’s wetware, I knew the local time was 1:30 in the morning. However, since Ar Telica and its sister cities never slept, almost every retail outlet in the building was open for business until 3:00 am. Considering the sheer number of stores, there had to be one that sold photronic equipment such as phones.

But first, I needed money.

Following Ghost’s directions, I took an elevator down to the ground floor of the megascraper’s atrium shopping mall. From there, I headed to a bank outlet. The bank was closed for business, but the teller machine wasn’t.

Ghost’s instructions allowed me to access my trust fund account. That required entering my sixteen digit PIN, answering a few security questions, granting the machine permission to scan my features, and then signing my name on the console as a last ditch measure to prove my identity as Isabel val Sanreal.

Once completed, I had access to Isabel’s monthly allowance: ten thousand dorans.

That was more money than most people earned in a month.

I can’t say I didn’t salivate a little at the thought of what I could spend it on.

However, I mentioned that the Sanreals were being stingy with Isabel’s money. Ghost countered by declaring that I needed to demonstrate I could be responsible with her money. For that matter, he questioned why I would want a larger monthly allowance, but I told him I’d give him an answer when the need arose for more than 10,000 dorans a month.

In the end, I transferred half that amount onto a cash card. Once I had a phone, I would install the app into it that would allow me to make purchases with it, but for now, the cash card would do. Also, it couldn’t be blocked by the Sanreals. It was just like paying with soft plastic money in the old days. Thus, even if they noticed the transfer of Isabel’s money, the Sanreals couldn’t stop me from using what I had on the cash card.

Then I was off to buy a much needed phone.

It may sound strange that despite all the advancements in tech made since the first cell phone hit the market in the late 20th century, it was still as popular as ever. There have been cyber implants since the mid 21st century, but they were troublesome and costly if they had to be replaced or upgraded on a regular basis. And some people weren’t cut-out for them, suffering from immune system rejection issues. Naturally, those issues have attracted lawsuits, court cases, and a lot of finger pointing as to who is responsible for them.

Wetware aside, even though other comm devices got smaller and more powerful, and augmented reality enhanced how people stayed connected with each other, the humble handheld cell phone had nonetheless endured for almost three centuries. I guess there was something about having the device in hand, holding it up to your ear, and not looking like you were having a conversation with an invisible friend that only existed in your head.

I followed Ghost’s directions and travelled to a store on the twelfth floor that sold a vast variety of photronic equipment. That meant everything from home appliances to personal items like cell phones. I was attended to by a middle-aged lady with a somewhat languid disposition that suited me fine because she didn’t ask any questions regarding my shabby appearance.

The problem was Ghost.

He prattled on and on about which phone I should buy.

Eventually I grew furious, hissed at him to shut up, and then picked out a snazzy flip-top simply because he’d been telling me to avoid their kind. That said, I happened to like the design, so I felt comfortable with my selection.

The next issue was the service plan. Since I lacked ID, the best I could do was purchase a disposable SIM card that would allow me to make a few hundred calls before it ran out.

Naturally, I paid for both using the cash card.

With my priority purchases completed, I rode the escalators up another handful of levels to a floor with cafés and restaurants. Choosing a trendy establishment with balcony seating, I went inside to order a ham and cheese croissant sandwich and a light, lemon soda. My selection did furrow the brow of the sales lady serving behind the tall display counter that was brimming with a delicious range of cakes and pastries that made my stomach rumble. In the end, I added a crème brulee to the order, and oddly that seemed to appease her.

Taking a seat at an empty table out on the balcony facing the atrium, I proceeded to activate my phone while I waited for my order to be delivered. I had the phone up and running a few minutes later, by which time a young waitress brought my food to the table.

The first contact I added to the phone was Erina’s number.

Ghost quoted her phone number to me, and I saved it away under the name, BITCH.

Needless to say, he wasn’t impressed though he did understand why I chose that label for her. However, what puzzled him was that I then chose to dig into my sandwich rather than make the call to Erina.

I washed down a mouthful of the croissant with a healthy swig from the soda bottle. “I refuse to speak to that bitch on an empty stomach.”

Ghost sighed despondently. “Princess, are you implying you would lose your appetite?”

I paused with the croissant halfway to my mouth. “That’s a good question.” I then shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”

Wolfing down the remainder of the sandwich, I then gulped down the lemon soda, wiped my lips with the back of my hand, then sat back and patted my belly.

“Princess, please use a napkin.”

“Argh—you are so annoying,” I grumbled as I plucked a napkin from the dispenser on the table. Wiping my mouth dry, I sat back again and stared across the atrium at the various floors I could see.

“Princess?”

I swallowed heavily, forcing down the burp I could feel working its way up my chest.

“Princess?”

“What?” I grumbled at him.

“Are you going to make that call?”

“What’s the rush?” I retorted. “If they know I’m here, then so be it.” I drank down some more soda. “Let them stew for a while.”

Ghost fell into what I presumed was a contemplative silence, but it didn’t last for long. “Princess, are you planning on talking to your sister—”

“Former sister,” I corrected him.

“—or are you planning to draw her in.”

I hesitated for a handful of heartbeats before asking, “Draw who in?”

“The woman hunting you.”

The corners of my lips curled into a sly smile. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

I had toyed with the notion of waiting her out.

Was she waiting outside the building? If so, how long before she got tired of standing on a ledge and came inside to look for me? Or was she the kind to follow orders down to the letter? For example, if her superiors told her to stay outside all morning, would she do it?

It made me wonder what kind of person she was.

“Ghost, do you know who she is?”

“Princess?”

“The woman following me—the one who chased me across the rooftop. Do you know who she is?”

Ghost sounded surprisingly hesitant when he replied, “Since you insist that she is a woman, I have narrowed the list of suspects down to a handful of candidates.”

“Really? Wow, you work fast.”

“But of course I do, Princess.”

“So, is she someone I know?”

Again, there was a telling pause from Ghost before he replied, “Well, perhaps….”

I arched an eyebrow. “Who is she?”

“I will tell after you make the call to Doctor Kassius.”

I slammed the soda bottle onto the table. “Ghost, who is she?”

“No dice, Princess. My lips are sealed until then.”

“Ghost,” I growled.

However, there was no reply.

Bastard, I cursed him inwardly as my gaze fell on the flip-top phone lying on the table.

“Better keep your word,” I warned him as I picked it up, “or there’s going to be Hell to pay.”

Flipping the phone open, I hesitated for a handful of seconds before calling Erina’s number.

She answered it promptly with a brusque demand.

“Who is this? How did you get this number?”

It was so like Erina to answer an unknown caller that way, but hearing her voice made me suffer a reflux of contempt that burned my throat.

I had to swallow twice before I could muster a suitable reply.

“Guess who, bitch.”

There was a lengthy pause before Erina anxiously asked, “Isabel?”

“That’s a hole-in-one. Give the—”

“Princess,” Ghost warned me sharply. “Negotiate. N. E. G. O. T. I. A. T. E.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and reconsidered my choice words. “Give the woman a cigar.”

Another heavy pause followed before Erina asked, “Where are you?”

“You already know where I am. My clothes are bugged. I bet you’re watching me on a holovid map of the city right now.”

For a third time, Erina was silent for a long while before bluntly demanding, “Isabel, we need to talk.”

I nodded at an imaginary image of the accursed woman, then quickly tossed it out of my head. The phone did have a holovid call feature. But truthfully, looking at Erina’s face right now – even an imaginary version of her – was likely to set me off like a freak accident in a fireworks factory. I needed all my faculties operating at Grandmaster level when facing an Alpha of her caliber. Yet, the desire to throw knives at her was strong – very, very strong – so much so that I needed several seconds to gain a firm grip on my emotions.

When satisfied that I wasn’t going to lose it, I replied in agreement with Erina.

“Yep, we need to talk. That’s why I spent a thousand dorans of Isabel’s money on this fancy new phone. Oh, I chose a flip-top. Remember when I wanted a phone and I picked out a flip-top. But you told me only girls use those. Well, guess what? I’m a girl now!”

I felt like flipping her the bird, but instead pumped a fist in the air.

Erina exhaled loud enough for me to understand she was annoyed. Then again, when was she ever happy with me?

“Congratulations. I won’t ask how you gained access to your money. Was it Revenant?”

“You just said you weren’t going to ask.”

“Isabel, come home.”

I sneered weakly. “I’m surprised you didn’t demand that right off the bat.”

“Come home. It’s for your own good.”

I shook my head. “No, not yet.”

“Does that mean you will come home?”

“In due time.”

“Isabel—”

“Erina, I need some time alone.”

My declaration was met with stony silence that lasted at least half a minute before I heard from her again.

“I can’t authorize that.”

My eyes widened, then narrowed quickly into thin slits as I realized my suspicions were on the money. Somebody was either undermining her authority or pulling rank on her. This presented a distinct problem that I needed to approach cautiously.

“Then who can?” I asked her in a clipped tone. “Who can give me permission?”

The sound of her breathing was all I could hear on the line for a handful of seconds. “Isabel, the situation is complicated—”

“You mean because somebody helped me out and you don’t know who it is? Is that what you mean by complicated?”

I could picture Erina narrowing her eyes at me.

“Isabel, tell me one thing. Are you in contact with Revenant?”

I pursed my lips for a second, puzzled as to why she was asking. “Yeah, Ghost is with me. He’s been a big help keeping me safe.”

“I see….”

I sat forward in the chair and rested an elbow on the table. “Don’t you know that already?”

“Revenant has been less than cooperative with us. Getting in touch with him has proven fruitless.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

Ghost wasn’t playing ball with them? Why not?

The question made me frown.

For that matter, why haven’t they pulled they plug on him or yanked him back in line? Just what kind of authority does Ghost have?

A cold, shiver trickled slowly down my back.

Could it be…they’re afraid of him?

I wet my lips slowly. “Erina, as I said already Ghost has been keeping me safe. I’m not lying to you. He’s been…invaluable.” I paused before stressing, “Don’t you dare take him away from me.”

“I have no intention of doing so.”

She sounded distinctly annoyed, so I decided not to press her further on that matter. Instead, I changed tracks on her.

“Erina, do you know who interfered with the chase? Who stopped the maglev?”

“We’re still looking into that, which is why I would prefer that you return to the apartment.”

I swallowed quietly while in thought. “Can I be spirited away like last time?”

“Spirited away?”

“Translocated. Can that be done to me like it was”—my voice caught for a moment—“like it was done to Ronin?”

“No, not without a beacon to establish a point-to-point translocation.”

“Like the one you have in my clothes?” I sniped unhappily.

“Absolutely not. It’s simply not powerful enough to act as a beacon for the translocator. The output required is a hundred fold what the tracer can provide.”

That genuinely puzzled me. “Then how was Ronin zapped from place to place. I don’t remember ever having had a beacon on me.”

“The beacon was installed into the light-guns you were using.”

That was surprising to hear. “Really? The guns gave me away?”

“I don’t have time to make things up, Isabel.”

I huffed loudly. “Fine. I get it. So unless I’ve got a sizeable beacon on me, I can’t be spirited away.”

“Why do you insist on calling it that?”

“What—you have a problem with my terminology?”

Ghost whispered into my ear. “Princess, calm down.”

“Shut up,” I snapped at him.

“Did you tell me to shut up?” Erina demanded tersely.

“No, not you,” I replied to her. “Just tell me. How close do I have to be within the range of the beacon to be zapped from place to place?”

“At least within six feet.”

“Is there any way for me to know if a beacon is active around me?”

Instead of Erina, Ghost answered my question. “Princess, the wetware inside your head should be sensitive to the translocation field. You should be able to sense its presence as it manifests.”

I quickly muted the call so Erina couldn’t hear me ask, “Are you talking about that nauseous feeling I get in my gut?”

I had the impression Ghost was shaking his head at me. “No. The wetware should be able to detect the beacon’s signal.”

I thought back to the occasion when I was transported from the island known as the Training Grounds to the desert location where I encountered the Gun Queen of Ar Telica. “Ghost, I don’t remember feeling anything back when I was first yanked from the island to the desert.”

“That’s because that feature was turned off.”

I closed my eyes slowly. “Ghost.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“After this, you and I need to have a long talk.”

“Regarding?”

“Regarding all my hidden features.” I opened my eyes. “Am I making myself clear?”

“Perfectly, Princess.”

“Good.” I unmuted the call. “Erina, are you still there?”

“Where the Hell did you go?”

“Relax. I was having a private conversation with Ghost.”

I listened to her exhale loudly. “Isabel, listen to me. For your own good, please return to the apartment.”

“Or what? You’ll have that bitch chase me down?”

“Isabel—”

“Erina, I told you before. I need some time alone. Okay? I just need to get away from you. Right now, I can’t stand the thought of being anywhere near you. You get me?”

The phone’s audio quality had amazing clarity, because again I could hear her frustrated breathing on the open line.

“Isabel, I am trying to protect you.”

“What?” I glared at the phone for a moment before bringing it back up to my ear. “Did you say protect me?”

“Yes, Isabel.”

Someone how I managed to keep my anger in check, but it sure as Hell wasn’t easy. “Erina, you’ve got a frekked up way of going about it.”

“Isabel, until we know who interfered—”

“You mean saved my ass!”

“—you need to return to the apartment. I’m telling you this for your own safety.”

I started shaking my head but quickly stopped. “Erina, you’ve got that crazy woman shooting electro-flechettes at me and chasing me across the skyline. In my book, that’s not safe.”

I heard something that sounded very much like an exasperated huff. “I understand. That situation was out of my hands.”

I cocked my head. “Are you telling me you’re back in control?”

“That will depend on you.”

“Why?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Yes, please do!”

“Then I’ll make this simple. If you continue to misbehave, someone else will deal with you. When that happens, your fate will be out of my hands. Is that clear enough for you?”

Yes, it was.

However, I was angry and needed a few moments to keep a lid on it before I risked giving her an answer.

Sitting back in the chair, I stared across the expanse of the atrium, then counted shops at random for a short while, hoping it would help me calm down.

“Isabel?”

I sucked in a lungful of air, then released it slowly.

It was time to do some proper negotiating.

“Erina, I just need some time, okay? I need some time alone. I’m not going to run away. I can’t run away. I mean, where the Hell would I go?”

I was growing accustomed to the lengthy quiet that preceded her replies, but I can’t say I didn’t find it annoying.

“All right, but you’ll need to make some concessions.”

Frankly, I was a mildly astounded that she had agreed, and I needed a moment to regain my mental footing. “I’m listening.”

“First. Tell Revenant that he is to reestablish communications with us. No more ignoring our calls. Is that clear?”

I moved the phone away from my head, then whispered to Ghost, “Did you hear that?”

“Aye, Princess.”

I spoke back to Erina. “He got the message.”

“Second. Make no attempt to change your clothes.”

I grimaced as I glanced down at myself. “But they’re not looking too good. I could get arrested for public indecency.”

“Isabel, it’s not up for debate.”

I snorted unhappily. “Fine. I won’t change my clothes. But if I get arrested for public indecency it’s your fault.”

“Thirdly. If there is any trouble, you will contact us immediately. That applies to Revenant as well.”

“Couldn’t he just summon my Sarcophagus?”

“Isabel, I don’t want you running around the city in your Princess Regalia.”

I rolled my eyes. “…fine…I get it, I get it….”

“Fourth. I can give you until morning.”

“It’s already morning,” I pointed out.

“Mid-morning. I can give you until mid-morning. You have until then.”

“What about that trigger-happy chick following me?”

“She’ll still be following you. Or do you have a problem with that?”

I leaned back, surprised by Erina’s admission. Whether voluntary or not, she’d just confirmed that it was a woman who’d chased me across the skyline and onto the train. I then wondered why the most troublesome people in my life were women?

Am I cursed by the opposite sex?

Realizing what I’d just asked myself, I palmed my face.

What am I talking about? Now, I’m the opposite sex!

In any case, Ghost had undoubtedly heard Erina as well, and I was certain he’d wonder how I knew that my hunter had been a woman. However, I was a little worried because the issue seemed more like a can of worms that I’d failed to shut when it first came up.

What do I tell him if he asks me again?

I sighed slowly, then took a deep breath to steady myself.

Worry about that later.

After another slow sigh, and another deep breath, I turned my attention back to Erina. “If you piss me off, I’m hanging up. How does that sound?”

“Then do you want to be dragged back in?”

“Just try it,” I scoffed at her, then slyly added, “or maybe I’ll get in touch with whoever saved my butt. Maybe they’re open to negotiations. At least they’re not shooting electro-flechettes at me!”

Noticing my loud voice had garnered some passing looks from the people walking by, I played it cool and sipped from the soda bottle. Then I spotted the untouched crème brulee on the table and started reaching for it.

“Isabel, do you know how dangerous that could be? Are you forgetting who and what you are?”

I stopped reaching for the cup of crème brulee and gave Erina’s remark some thought. “Okay, you have a point. But aren’t you curious to know who stepped in and offered me a helping hand?”

“I’d rather you were not so curious. If you go looking for trouble, you will find it.”

I sat back in the chair. “Yah, yah. So says the woman who made me the way I am.”

“Isabel, I am being serious here.”

Irritation flashed through me. “How about I prove to you that I can take care of myself?”

That came out a little harsher than expected, but I couldn’t help it.

I waited for Erina’s retort…while eyeing my crème brulee.

“Very well…you have until mid-morning. But don’t make any attempts to contact whoever they are. Is that clear? If you do, I won’t be able to protect you.”

I broke into a slow frown.

Who is she protecting me from?

I had the oddest impression it wasn’t from whoever had helped me out but from someone else.

Could it be the Sanreals?

Ghost interjected cautiously, “Princess, may I suggest that you ‘give a little ground’ as they say?”

I felt like sneering at him, but he’d reminded me of the reason I’d made the call in the first place which was to negotiate for some breathing room.

After a deep breath, I spoke to Erina. “Fine. I agree to your terms. Anything else?”

“Yes, tell Revenant to stop acting in his own interests.”

Ghost sounded faintly indignant. “I do resent her insinuation….”

Rolling my eyes, I grimaced sourly at Erina’s image in my head. “Yeah, whatever. You can tell him yourself. I’m not playing messenger anymore.” I felt an overwhelming urge to hang up on her. “If there’s nothing else, then we’re done here.”

“Don’t forget your promise—”

“I haven’t promised you anything,” I snapped back at her, then ended the call by abruptly flipping the phone shut.

I almost tossed it onto the table but held myself back by the skin of my teeth. It was a new phone after all, and I’d bought it with Isabel’s money, so mistreating it was a No-No. Thus, I placed it carefully into a pant pocket for safekeeping.

“Now what…?” I mumbled to myself.

“Princess, perhaps you should have been a little more agreeable with her.”

I scowled unhappily at Ghost’s criticism and then reached out for the crème brulee on the table. Picking up the spoon that came with it, I began scooping generous portions into my mouth. When I’d consumed around half of the cup’s contents, I paused and gave the atrium a glum look.

Most, if not all the shops, would close down at 3:00 am, so I had more than an hour to kill if I wanted to stay here. However, I wasn’t in the mood for remaining put, and yet I was also reluctant to head out. After my unpleasant conversation with Erina, I strongly suspected – no, I truly believed – that the woman who’d been hunting me was in the area. Even if the hunt had been suspended, I was certain she was loitering to keep an eye on me, and the notion of having her watching me from on high like a vulture grated on my nerves.

But what was I to do?

I could try giving her the slip by changing clothes, then dropping them off in an auto-cab. I could send the cab in one direction while I fled the other way. It was a classic action holo-vid maneuver that was likely to land me in hot water.

Why you may ask?

Because I was akin to a dog tied to a very long leash. If I pulled on it too hard, someone on the other end was likely to give it a very hard yank, and that was something I wanted to avoid. Yet the unfairness of my situation made me seethe inwardly until it suddenly wore me out. Exhausted, I pushed aside the half empty cup of crème brulee, planted both elbows on the table, and then dropped my head onto my hands.

“…this sucks….”

I felt like a convict who’d been given time off for good behavior but was expected back in jail by mid-morning.

“…urgh….”

Grumbling in my throat, I slumped forward onto the table, but Mirai’s breasts acted like big cushions beneath me.

“…damn it….”

Feeling uncomfortable, I lifted my head off the table.

Mirai’s long black hair veiled my face, and I had to look through it at my surroundings.

A clothing shop situated across the atrium snagged my attention. Located a level below me, it was open for business, and it had a thin stream of customers walking through its entrance.

Tossing back Mirai’s hair away from my face, I took a better look at the shop.

Judging by the holo-mannequins on display, it appeared to retail sporting outfits for women.

“Well, well, well,” I muttered thoughtfully to myself.

“Princess, is there something on your mid?” Ghost inquired a tad cautiously.

I snorted at the question. “Don’t you mean something on my chest?”

“…Princess?”

I slowly sat upright.

Let’s see how long my leash is.

After downing the remaining soda in the bottle, I capped it, then plonked the empty container onto the table with renewed spirits.

“Ghost, I’m going for a walk.”

“Where to, Princess?”

I grinned faintly at the hint of worry in his voice. “I wanna see the city.”

And I want to see if she’ll take the bait.

Ghost sounded a smitch perplexed. “You wish to see Ar Telica?”

The grin on my face widened as I gently nodded. “Yeah, I wanna see the city through Mirai’s eyes.” Pushing the chair back, I stood up, then stretched my body. “And I know just where to go….”

“Princess, you have somewhere in mind?”

“Indeed, I do, Ghost. Indeed, I do.”

“Might I inquire where that would be?”

“Ar Telica Tower.” I worked my shoulders, then arched my back a little. “Tallest spot in the city.”

“Is that so…?”

When I finished stretching, I stood arms akimbo and stared grimly at the clothing shop that had caught my eye. “But first…I’m buying a sports bra.”

“Ahem.” Ghost coughed politely. “Princess, are you not forgetting something of grave importance?”

“Nope. Buying a sports bra is a grave importance.”

“Princess, I am being serious here.”

I was growing weary of him pestering me. “Ghost, so am I.”

“Princess, I am talking about the curfew!”

I jerked sharply then grew very still. “…the curfew…?”

As though all my strings had been cut, I slumped down in the chair and stared vacantly at the floor.

“Frek…I forgot about that.”

Ar Telica had a 10:30 pm curfew for teenagers.

To clarify, the system applied to underaged citizens, namely those that had yet to turn eighteen. I vaguely recalled that Isabel val Sanreal was sixteen years old, so if I was stopped by the authorities then I was proverbially screwed. There was one proviso, and it involved being in the company of an individual recognized by the city-state as an adult.

In other words, I needed a chaperone.

“This really does suck,” I morosely complained.

When I thought it about it calmly, it was surprising that I’d made it this far without being detained by the authorities. I’d run through two megascrapers and into a third within which I’d spent the better part of an hour. I’d walked past dozens of cameras, made purchases, and sat at a café to eat a light meal in full view of the people strolling by. Yet no one had reported me, and not one city-state Enforcer had lumbered up to arrest me.

How could this be?

I could understand the people not giving a crap about an underage girl like me, but surely the surveillance cameras would have no qualms about dobbing me in.

As a matter of fact, I was sitting right under a camera disguised as a domed light fixture just above the entrance to the café.

I was giving it a glum look when I heard Ghost sigh loudly in disappointment, undoubtedly directed at me.

“Princess, Princess. What are we going to do with you?”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s a good question….”

This was met by another sigh from him, but true to form, he recovered his poise rather quickly.

“Princess, if you are intent on embarking across the city, then you will need—”

“A chaperone,” I finished for him. “I know, I know….”

“And here she is,” Ghost finished smoothly.

“Huh?” I heard the words, but they didn’t sink in until seconds later. “What? Where—ah!”

Ghost materialized abruptly beside the table, startling me.

His appearance was the same as it had been when he dragged me into that virtual representation of the arcade plaza.

“Look over there,” he suggested and pointed with a finger off into the distance.

I glared at him for surprising me, but then turned to look at where he was pointing.

On a balcony across the atrium stood a young woman with bluish-black hair tied back into a long ponytail. At sight of her, Mirai’s chest tightened anxiously and a faint shiver raced through her body. Then the unsettling sense of déjà vu returned, making the hairs on my nape tingle.

“What is she doing here?” I asked in a low voice.

“Princess, she is your escort.”

As though that was her cue, the young woman began circling the atrium toward me.

I swallowed hard. “Ghost, if this is your idea of a joke—”

“I assure you, Princess, this is not an attempt at humor.”

“Then tell me you didn’t pick her as my escort.”

“I did not pick her as your escort.”

As I watched her walk closer, various doubts, fears, and suspicions pulled my thoughts and feelings in different directions.

I was faced with the question of fight or flight, or simply hold my ground.

In the end, I chose the latter.

Sitting with my legs crossed, I radiated the aura of a Queen Bee while waiting for the woman who’d treated Erina with veiled disdain, and who had such an unsettling effect on Mirai, to arrive. She stopped a few feet away, then quickly studied me from head to toes. I noticed her gaze lingered on Mirai’s dark hair and it made me wonder how much she knew about me. I also wanted to ask Ghost if he knew who she was, but that would have to wait for later.

For now, I studied her as closely as she’d studied me.

Her outfit was the same as when I first saw her, and that meant dark grey pants and shirt, and a black bomber jacket. She seemed a little taller than Mirai, but I couldn’t be certain unless we stood barefoot and nose to nose.

The prolonged silence between us grew heavy until she broke it. Her tone was civil and perfunctory, with none of the contempt she’d expressed toward Erina.

“You must be Isabel. I failed to introduce myself earlier. My name is Renew. Raine Renew.”

I slipped into my Queen Bee role. “Why are you here?”

“To escort you,” she replied without a hint of hesitation.

I arched an eyebrow at her. “Escort me?”

“I was informed that you intend to see Ar Telica. This is your first time here, is it not.”

She made it sound like a statement of fact, but I chose to treat it like a question.

“That’s right,” I replied, then casually shrugged. “First time in a big city.”

Renew acknowledged that with a short pause. “Since you’re new here, you may not know that Ar Telica has strict curfew laws for minors.”

“I may have read about that in a brochure,” I wisecracked.

Again, Renew paused. “As a minor, you are in breach of those curfew regulations unless you are in the company of a registered adult. Hence, I was assigned to accompany you while you tour the city.”

I snorted ever so softly. “And you just happened to be in the area.”

“Correct.”

I smiled bitterly. “I’ll bet you were.”

Renew ignored my jibe and half turned to gesture off into the distance. “Shall we?”

I folded my arms with deliberate care. “What if I choose not to?”

“You are still a minor that requires supervision,” she explained.

“But it was agreed that I was to be left alone until mid-morning.”

Renew turned toward me. “Your family instructed me to ensure that you are not arrested.”

“My family?” Puzzled, I cocked my head slightly. “You mean Erina?”

I could have been wrong, but I thought I saw a smirk grace Renew’s lips for heartbeat.

“My orders come from the Sanreal Family,” she answered. “To be specific, they come from your older brother, Simon Sanreal.”

I recalled the name. He was Clarisol’s older brother who oversaw the Sanreal Family’s interests in my universe. Obviously, I was one of those interests, and it seemed he had a hand in this encounter.

Ghost chose that moment to smoothly butt in. “Princess, you did say you wanted to see the city from the Tower.”

That was true but the city-state curfew and the arrival of this woman complicated the situation.

Ah, damn it! Damn it! I’ve lived in this city my whole life. How could I forget the damn curfew? And damn Erina for not reminding me about it!

Ghost sidled up to me. “Princess, there is no harm done in accepting her assistance.”

I glanced away and shook my head ever so faintly because I couldn’t bring myself to agree with him.

I felt the price was too high.

If I accepted Renew’s help, I would be indebted to the Sanreals, and that was something I wanted to avoid for as long as possible. Yet by being difficult, I wasn’t making the situation easier on myself either. In fact, I’d left myself with little choice in the matter, yet I stubbornly refused to give in.

When I looked up, I found myself staring at Renew’s lifeforce aura.

It was calm and collected, much like her appearance, but I noticed something that made my gut clench.

What the—?

“Have you made your decision?” Renew asked while standing so still she put the Cat Princess to shame.

I didn’t reply

Instead, I continued carefully studying the undulating waves of her aura with mounting unease.

Is it her? I asked myself.

Yet subconsciously I knew the answer to that question, and so too did Mirai because she was suddenly on her feet. She moved so quickly it must have surprised Renew because she shifted her stance into a wary posture.

I was reminded of what happened back at Erina’s apartment when Mirai presented a strong front to the Simulacra Sisters.

Fearing a repeat, I felt as though I was poised on a knife edge.

One wrong move and things could go south for me in a heartbeat.

Damn it! This is not what I wanted!

I needed to restrain Mirai’s tendency to face fire with fire, and I needed to throw Renew off. Thankfully, she was waiting for me to make the first move.

Tightening my grip on Mirai’s emotions and mine, I swallowed to clear my throat, and then sullenly remarked, “It’s no fun being chaperoned.”

Renew’s eyes narrowed for the first time since arriving before me. “I assure you, Lady Isabel, you won’t even know I’m there.”

Hearing her say that almost made me laugh.

Oh, I’ll know you’re there. Trust me on that.

Beside me, Ghost was giving me a look that practically yelled ‘What are you doing?’

I spared him a glance as if to say, ‘I know, I know. Give me a moment.’

Then, with a low, deep breath, I was able to visibly relax my stance.

As I’d thought, Renew was sticking to a wait-and-see approach, and she soon followed suit though she continued watching me alertly.

Feeling as though I’d survived a near-miss, I breathed a tad easier.

As for Ghost, the relief he expressed was quickly marred by confusion.

I wondered if I should tell him of what I suspected, then decided it was something for later when Renew wasn’t around.

For now, I met her eyes with a dash of fire in mine. “For the record, I don’t trust you.”

Renew nodded subtly. “Understood. What is your decision?”

Her rather mechanical response stirred up the dark, mixed feelings swimming in my chest.

After everything that had happened, I found it irritating that she could maintain such a calm, business-like disposition. It also made her difficult for me to handle because she wasn’t like Erina. In other words, I couldn’t push her buttons because she didn’t seem to have any, and that made me wonder if she treated me this way because I didn’t matter to her? Could it be that unlike Erina, Straus, and Clarisol, this woman had no self-serving interest in me?

In other words, she was given an assignment and I was merely a part of it.

Surprisingly, being treated this way was both refreshing and disappointing. It also clarified that treating Renew like I treated Erina wasn’t going to yield the same results, and there was something else to consider. Renew was like an unsheathed knife – a naked blade who wouldn’t hesitate to cut me if ordered to do so – and she wasn’t taking orders from Erina, but from Simon Sanreal and that made her dangerous. After all, she’d demonstrate a distinct lack of restraint when shooting flechettes at me.

Inhaling deeply, I remembered Straus asking me when I would stop lashing out at the world. To that end, I’d made a start by negotiating with Erina, albeit not face to face since I couldn’t tolerate even a glimpse of her arrogant mug.

However, this wasn’t a negotiation.

It was a Take-It or Leave-It offer that Renew had handed me…undoubtedly from her superiors.

I could either see the city with her assistance or run the risk of being arrested. If I declined her offer, how far could I rely on Ghost to interfere with the city’s surveillance grid? And wasn’t I depending on him too much? Sooner or later, I would attract the attention of the authorities and when that happened would I run from them as well?

The end justifies the means, doesn’t it?

That more-or-less summed up Erina’s mantra on how she approached everything that had to do with Mirai, and it was why I had such a bitter taste in my mouth when I gave Renew my answer.

“Fine. We’ll do this your way.”

---

Thank you for getting this far.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The new "The Gun Princess Royale" will hopefully be release on Amazon Kindle as an eBook in 2023.
It all depends on what issues my editor friend finds with the story.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

Amidst the political maneuvering, while slowly reconciling his past as Ronin Kassius, Isabel faces a new threat from Tabitha Hexen who reveals her own agenda in wanting to fight Mirai in a Gun Princess Royale battle.

---

 

Ar Telica and its sister city-states never slept, but that didn’t mean they didn’t wind down a little during the dark side of the morning.

From 3:00 am onwards, the majority of the shops and outlets closed their doors for a few hours. Thus, there was always a mad rush to squeeze in as much activity as possible – whether senseless or not – before the city slipped into a light, fitful slumber as the new day headed inexorably toward the dawn. Because of this, a cluttered, strung out, multicolored, multicultural collection of bodies either surged or trickled over the sidewalks, plazas, and boulevards, moving from megascraper to megascraper, or dove into venues deep below the towering cityscape looking to eke out one more bit of fun before briefly retiring.

Ar Telica’s architecture possessed more than just tall buildings.

Elevated plazas, bridgeways, and promenades crisscrossed at various elevations high above the city streets, forming a misshapen lattice canopy between a forest of towering buildings, while the streets far below teemed with vehicular traffic, hemmed in by sidewalks burdened with throngs of people both braving and relishing the night life.

Mirai had chosen to remain in a powered-up state, so all my senses were hyperaware to a frightening degree. Because of this, as I walked along a bridgeway a hundred feet above an eight-lane street, I surveyed Ar Telica with the embarrassing disposition of a newborn, and in a sense that is what Mirai was. She had taken her first steps into the world and straight into battle. But now she was immersed in a different kind of world – an environment of bright lights, myriad sounds, and sky-scraping architecture that was swarming with people, not Zombie Simulacra.

However, before she and I embarked upon this journey to Ar Telica Tower, I made three important purchases.

After all, as Miguel de Cervantes said, ‘to be prepared is half the victory’.

I wonder, what’s the other half?

Regardless, I had made the decision that I wasn’t going to head out unless I was indeed prepared.

The first and most embarrassing purchase was a sports bra for Mirai’s fulsome bosom. I swallowed my pride, walked into a shop selling lingerie, and then asked the store assistant for help. The young lady who attended to me proved to be most helpful, and quite understanding of my needs since she herself sported a rather full bust. Her choice proved to be impeccable, and I walked out of the shop feeling like a girl reborn…although that in itself is rather dispiriting since I’m not entirely a girl.

The body? Yes.

The mind? No.

The second purchase was a hairband. I had chosen to leave Mirai’s long, raven hair flowing loosely down my back, but the hairband was to keep her bangs away from my face. In case I found myself running for dear life, I tested the hairband – and the sports bra – by jumping a few times, then shaking my head like a headbanger at a heavy metal concert.

The hairband stayed on my head like it was glued in place.

And the sports bra handled Mirai’s prominent attributes with aplomb.

The third purchase was a pair of stylish midnight sunglasses. I used them to hide Mirai’s crimson eyes without impeding her vision. However, while I take pride in saying that she looked good behind those sunglasses, they proved to be a pointless acquisition.

Why?

Because as I walked through the city’s elevated architecture, I quickly lost count of the number of young people I saw with crimson eyes. Of course, they weren’t real. They were contact lenses that seemed to be the rage with the young demographic that swarmed through the city at night. Red, blue, violet, golden, iridescent, even luminescent, the lenses offered a variety of colors and textures to appease the personal tastes of a collective aspiring for individuality, or for those people that wanted to fit in with a social clique or their trendsetting circle of friends.

For example, somewhere along the way to Ar Telica Tower, I slowed down to watch a girl with honey blonde hair walk by me. Her eyes met mine and I saw that they had slit irises like those of a cat. For a moment, I thought of Straus’s Cat Princess, and my body tensed reflexively until the girl eased my mind with a fleeting smile as she continued along in the company of a group of girls sporting a variety of animal ears and tails. I figured they were in costume, either coming from a party or going to one somewhere in the vast city. However, they weren’t the only example of wild, bizarre paraphernalia that I encountered since stepping out at this rare hour.

I wasn’t going to say that the crazies of Ar Telica only came out at night, but I can say that far-fetched, bolder, and out-of-left-field fashion was prominent during the Witching Hour. In any case, it explained why the lady who sold me the cell phone didn’t bat an eyelid when I looked at her with Mirai’s crimson eyes, nor the woman at the café that I visited afterwards.

While the extravagant fashion sense of Ar Telica’s midnight denizens wasn’t to my liking, they nonetheless added flair to the city thereby influencing the overall holistic experience.

I was nearly inundated by the rich variety of smells Mirai’s nose was capturing. The fragrances of people on the elevated boulevards and walkways, the aromas coming from the shops, the smell of vehicles on the road far below, even the subtle odor of metal and ozone from the maglevs racing overhead on rail lines – I could perceive all of it, including the veiled scent of the ocean carried on the back of the breeze drafting in from the harbor about a kilometer to the east.

On Mirai’s bare skin, I could feel the cold air and the warmth of the people around me. When their bodies brushed by me – because they were unwilling or unable to avoid me – I could feel the texture of their clothes and their skin to a disturbing degree.

Conversations, shouts, laughter, footsteps, music, the hiss of electro-fusion drives from cars and maglevs, the whirring of drones high above, the high frequency hum of powerful photronic lights, the rustling of clothes, all blended into a menagerie of sounds absorbed by Mirai’s ears.

Ar Telica was also a great feast for the eyes.

When not looking at the people around me, I gazed upwards at the ubiquitous pyramidal megascrapers of the city-state, standing hundreds of meters tall, and illuminated by countless lights. Because of their slanted shapes, 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 into the mélange of sights, sounds, smells that was Ar Telica and its people.

Yet this was only the proverbial cake.

The icing was the emotional impact it had upon me.

For me, this was an experience that went beyond the physical.

I had never walked these streets during this side of the morning.

I had never seen the city and its people in this light.

My life as Ronin Kassius was a sheltered routine existence that was safe and secure – one that adhered to the rules and regulations imposed on young people by the city-state authority.

That said, I could never have indulged in my surroundings to this extent.

All of this was possible because Mirai was an entity that perceived the world at a preternatural level.

I remembered reading how autistic people experienced the world to such a degree of clarity that they suffered from a sensory overload. 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 to the fullest extent.

I wasn’t hampered by the rich, vibrancy surrounding me.

Instead, I was basking in it like no other human could.

But when I realized this, my euphoria quickly evaporated, and afterward I felt crushed by the cruel reality of Mirai’s existence because she was an entity like no other.

Mirai was unique and thereby alone.

I couldn’t share what I was feeling with anyone else because they couldn’t understand it.

Describing it with words wasn’t enough.

To appreciate my view of the world, people would have to be like me, but that meant no longer being human, and knowing that I wasn’t human added to the loneliness 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 veiled behind a curtain of depression, and thus I turned away from the surrounding city and its people, unable to bear the weight of the once glorious vista.

With my eyes downcast, I avoided the crowds while walking on autopilot to the far end of an elevated promenade bridging the expanse between two megascrapers. To some extent, I was carried along by the stream of people, and I began to feel incorporeal, or rather like an entity that lived in a separate reality from the rest of humanity.

It underscored my uniqueness with a deeply penetrating sense of isolation.

I suddenly thought of another unique existence much like mine – a fictional character in a novel written hundreds of years ago.

Frankenstein’s monster – a lonely creature that had beseeched its creator for a mate to dispel its solitude; for a companion that could understand it.

Would I become like that 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 feelings sunk even further as a result. I liked girls but there were a couple of occasions after awakening as Mirai when I’d caught myself looking at Mat, embarrassingly seeing him not as my friend but as a handsome young man. So while I was drawn in one direction, I was also being tugged in the other.

Then I had a frightful thought.

What if one day I woke up and no longer thought of myself as Ronin Kassius but as Mirai or Isabel?

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?

That last thought irritated me such that I came to a sudden stop.

“Blasted Erina. Who does she think she is criticizing how I walk—uh?”

At a standstill, I looked around me at unfamiliar surroundings.

Where the Hell am I?

I was standing in the middle of a bridgeway, one of many that came together to form an immense concourse that was canopied by a transparent dome. Projecbeam and holovid signs floated overhead, providing directions, and I started reading them in order to get my bearings.

Okay…which way to the Tower?

“Princess, are you all right?”

I did a double-take when I saw Ghost standing beside me.

In fact, I jerked back with a startled cry that luckily caught in my throat before it could draw people’s attention.

“Princess?”

I stalled him with a raised hand and whispered, “Would you stop doing that?”

“Doing what?”

I started to reply but realized that talking to myself would appear strange to the people around me since they couldn’t see Ghost standing nearby.

There was also Raine Renew to consider.

True to her word, she was giving me a lot of room.

In fact, she was giving me so much room that I had no idea where she was.

I looked around me and muttered, “What is she—a damn ninja?”

“Don’t you mean a Shinobi?” Ghost asked.

“What?” I gave him a puzzled look.

“You are referring to Miss Renew, are you not?”

I started to answer him with a nod then chose not to.

Sweeping my gaze over the people walking through the concourse, I noticed that I failed to draw more than a glance or two, but it was enough for me to reconsider how I should communicate with Ghost out in the open.

Pulling out my phone from a pant pocket, I said, “Call me.

Then I walked over to one side of the bridgeway within the concourse, thus keeping out of people’s way.

The phone vibrated in my hand while I was peering over the side of the guardrail at a twelve-lane street far below brimming with swiftly moving cars and buses. Dragging my attention away from the vista, I checked the caller ID on the phone before answering it, but as expected, GHOST was written in big bold letters on the phone’s screen, then flipping it open, I held it up to my right ear.

I could have used the detachable earpiece transmitter, but I preferred to be seen talking on the phone. No doubt, Renew would see me on the phone as well, and I suspected she would eavesdrop on me somehow, but how was I to stop her?

Damn it. Where the Hell did she go?

Hoping it would make it harder for Renew to read my lips, I chose to look down at the city street well below the bridgeway.

“Princess?”

“Ghost, can I ask you something?”

“You may, Princess.”

I stifled a frown.

Was he hinting at my poor grammar?

Shaking my head inwardly, I ignored the intimation. “Ghost, do I walk like a boy or a girl?”

Ghost had vanished from sight a moment after I told him to call me, so I could only picture his reaction.

He’s probably frowning at me, I thought to myself as I waited for his answer.

“Princess, if I may be so bold as to offer my opinion.”

“You may,” I replied tartly.

“From my many observations of Ronin Kassius—”

“Your many observations?”

“—I can safely conclude he was never the manliest of men.”

I huffed loudly then retorted with a scowl. “I think you’ve mentioned that already.”

“Princess, my point is that he lacked the—dare I say—swagger that most teenage boys exhibit.”

“So…I walked like a girl?”

“No, you simply walked. That is to say, you lacked the physique of a 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 was rather neutral.”

I felt my forehead begin to furrow. “Is that what Erina meant?”

“No, she most clearly exaggerated to rile you up.”

I exhaled slowly, feeling oddly relieved, perhaps because Ghost had judged that I wasn’t at either 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?

Abruptly, I realized the flaw in my thinking. “Ghost, you said Ronin Kassius was never the manliest of men. You were talking past tense, right?”

“Indeed, I was.”

“Then you were talking about Ronin Kassius, not Mirai.”

“Correct, Princess.”

I swallowed anxiously before reluctantly asking, “So how do I walk now?”

“Princess, I assure you that you walk like a girl. Truthfully, you have a rather fluid and natural gait.”

Understanding what he meant, I felt a cold emptiness begin to hollow out my chest, and it swallowed my voice.

However, I wasn’t able to stay quiet for long.

Swallowing twice to help regain my voice, I then looked down at the pedestrians on the sidewalks far below the concourse of bridgeways.

“That shouldn’t be possible, should it?” I asked. “If Mirai is a newborn, how can she run and fight the way she does?”

“Normally, that would not be possible.”

“Normally?” I raised my head again. “What does that mean?”

“Princess, might I suggest that you resume walking. We can talk along the way.”

Was he avoiding the question?

I exhaled loudly, then straightened as I pushed away from the railing. Turning around, I gave the projecbeam and holovid signs providing directions a studious look.

Damn, I really am lost.

“Ghost, how do I get from here to Ar Telica Tower?”

“Do you wish to walk or ride the maglev?”

I grimaced at the memory of riding on the roof of a speeding train. “That depends on where I am right now.”

“In that case, I suggest the maglev. Ar Telica Tower is seven point three kilometers on a bearing of 177 degrees from true north.”

My shoulders slumped as though in surrender as those numbers made the choice for me. “Fine. I’ll take the train.”

“Very well, Princess. Make your way to the southeast exit. You will come across a maglev station within two hundred meters.” Ghost paused before asking. “Princess, does your phone not have a map function?”

I pouted sullenly as I walked toward the concourse’s southeast exit but stopped suddenly when I remembered my chaperone. “What about my shinobi?”

Ghost snorted. “Trust me, Princess. She will be just fine.”

“So she’s still with me?”

“I presume so.”

That was not the answer I was expecting. “Does that mean you don’t know where she is?”

“She engaged a thermoptic field. It makes it difficult to locate her using the surveillance cameras in the area. However, I have glimpsed a faint distortion pattern here and there, thus it is safe to say that she is still shadowing you.”

A distortion pattern had to mean the strange shimmer in the air that betrayed the presence of a thermoptic camouflage field, but I was puzzled. Did this mean that Mirai’s eyes could see as well as Ghost through the surveillance network?

No, she can see better.

Through her eyes, I could see what Ghost couldn’t – the lifeforce that radiated from a living creature. But in a city full of living people with auras of their own, it would be hard to pick her out from the crowd.

I resumed walking. “Forget about her. If you spot her, fine. If not, it doesn’t matter.”

“Princess?”

“If she can’t keep up, that’s not my problem.”

I exited the concourse into a building with a high ceiling. With its many open levels and retail outlets, the place reminded me of the landside part of a spaceport terminal. Taking a few seconds to orient myself by reading the signs, I quickly headed for the maglev station.

“Ghost, tell me why Mirai can move so well.”

The answer to my question had to wait until I boarded the maglev simply because Ghost insisted he wouldn’t tell me until I was safely aboard a carriage…rather than riding on its roof.

I had the niggling suspicion he had done this to me before – insisting that I first perform a specific task or he wouldn’t reveal something he’d discovered.

Using the cash card to pay the boarding fee, I waited at a mildly crowded platform for a couple of minutes, then caught the first maglev headed southbound through the city.

Occupying a seat at one end of the fourth carriage, I was well clear of the nearest passenger by about a dozen feet. Thus afforded a small measure of privacy, I listened to Ghost’s explanation on the phone.

“Princess, you are aware that Mirai possesses intimate knowledge of firearms and is well practiced when it comes to shooting.”

I nodded faintly, feeling slightly unsettled when reminded of all the shooting I’d done. “Yeah, I know that. I’ve got all this knowledge in my head about weapons I’ve never seen before. And I know how to use them, too.”

“Your mind—rather, Mirai’s brain—was imprinted with that information. The same applies to her body. When a Simulacrum is birthed, it has little knowledge of how to move. For that reason, the muscle memory belonging to other Simulacra of similar body type, proportions, and dimensions is used to imprint the newborn’s body. This shortcuts the natural learning process by essentially compressing it into a matter of days or even hours, and allows for a newborn Simulacrum to be both functional and productive sooner rather than later.”

I frowned to myself, a little unsettled by the obvious question begging to be asked. “Does this mean there’s another Simulacrum like Mirai?”

Ghost took his time before replying, “No. Mirai is unique.”

Now I felt even more anxious. “Then how was Mirai imprinted? Where does her muscle memory come from?”

“I do not know.”

That was unexpected and left me grasping at straws as I appealed to Ghost, “Please don’t lie to me. If you know, then please tell me.”

“Princess, I am not lying to you. I know a great deal about you, but this I do not know. There is a cluster of classified data on Mirai that I have not been able to access. The ICE surrounding it is the thickest I have ever encountered. My attempts to penetrate it have been unsuccessful. Every ICE breaker I have employed has been crushed by the very ICE it was trying to break through.”

Wondering what he meant, I cocked my head in a questioning fashion. “ICE…?”

“Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics.”

“But I thought isolated electronics were a thing of the past. I thought all our systems were now photronic based.”

“Indeed. However, calling it ICP does not sound nearly as cool as calling it ICE. As a result, the acronym has persisted throughout the modern era of cyber warfare.”

His explanation made me feel like palming my face in dismay, but instead I sat back in the seat and stared up at the carriage’s ceiling. “Okay, I get it. But this means the Sanreals can keep secrets from you too.”

Ghost sounded faintly peeved. “I assure you, Princess, it will not be for long.”

A shiver ran through me.

Revenant and his kind had broken into a Citadel and caused it to explode, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and Simulacra. If he put his talents and skills to it, no block of ICE was going to keep that data safe. The thought made me shiver because Ghost was also inside my head courtesy of the wetware embedded in Mirai’s brain. Could he exert an influence over me from within my mind? He was able to project himself into my vision, and I could hear him in my ears, so how else could he affect my senses?

This uncertainty made me feel naked and exposed, and I wondered if Ghost was aware of this. I didn’t think he could read my thoughts, but I suspected he was monitoring Mirai’s body, reading the chemical changes that took place within her, and using them to interpret my state of mind. In short, Ghost could tell when I was troubled, and perhaps he could even discern what was bothering me.

To get a grip on my emotions, I chose to focus on something else.

The city buildings racing by offered me a convenient distraction, but my feelings soured when I remembered being chased down the side of a megascraper.

The hunt may have been suspended – possibly called off – but it felt like unfinished business. Thus bothered by it, I looked away from the city outside the maglev and turned my attention to the carriage’s interior. There were still plenty of vacant seats, and I had a sizeable gap to the closest passenger. Nonetheless, I kept the phone close to my right ear as I cautiously asked, “What else do you think is hidden inside that block of ICE?”

“Difficult to tell. However, I presume a copy of the data on Mirai’s inner workings.”

I frowned faintly in confusion. “Ghost, you control the Sarcophagus. Doesn’t that mean you know Mirai’s secrets?”

“It does not work that way, Princess. What I control of the Sarcophagus allows me to support and maintain you. It does not provide me with the means to create another Mirai.”

I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Does that mean you don’t know where the Angel Fibers come from?”

“It would be safe to say the answer lies behind that wall of ICE.”

“Oh….”

“Princess, your stop is coming up.”

I glanced at a holovid banner scrolling below the ceiling near the middle of the carriage.

RING ZERO. DISTRICT SIX. BLOCK SIX.

I closed the phone shut as the maglev smoothly pulled into the station.

After disembarking from the carriage along with a handful of other passengers, I soon left the station behind as I followed the most direct route to Ar Telica Tower.

Earlier, when I’d checked the map on my phone, I noticed that the station closest to the Tower was a district block away. Therefore, I would have to walk the last leg of the journey, though I could make use of the elevated bridgeways, plazas, and promenades to stay well above the streets. I could have used the map on my phone to guide me, but Ghost chose to conveniently lead the way by reappearing in my vision.

As I followed him, the bustling bridgeways and promenades grew busier the closer we walked to Ring Zero’s entertainment districts located due west of the horseshoe shaped harbor. Unlike the outlets in other districts, those found here would be open until the crack of dawn. However, many of them would then close their doors until early afternoon. Such was the nature of the entertainment they offered.

I will point out that I wasn’t anywhere near Ar Telica’s red light district. Rather, this area could be considered a focal point for tourists that were either off-worlders or visitors from Teloria’s other city-states.

I must to admit, I’d mostly forgotten about the curfew, but that changed when I stepped out of a megascraper and onto a bridgeway connecting it to the squat, circular building that served as the foundation for Ar Telica Tower. The building also doubled as a civic center. At twenty stories high, it was a popular tourist spot and was thus unusually open at all hours. Entry into the building was free, though I would have to pay an admission fee to ride the ultra-fast maglev elevators up to the Tower’s various observation decks and restaurant floors.

However, now that I was here, I couldn’t get in. That was because two city-state Enforcers clad in armor-skins stood at the far end of the connecting bridgeway, guarding the entrance to the Civic Center. If I was spotted by those guards on duty, they were likely to run a facial recognition scan on me and learn that I was underaged.

It was time for my Shinobi chaperone to make herself useful.

Until then, I had no choice but to retreat into the megascraper.

The building was an office complex so its many businesses were closed until mid-morning. That should have left the place deserted, but because it offered access to the Civic Center via the bridgeway there were numerous groups of people walking through it.

I kept out of their way while waiting for Renew but I also kept an eye out for her.

I was curious to see how she would make her entrance.

Would she drop her thermoptic field early, allowing me to see her at a distance?

Or would she materialize beside me and try taking me by surprise?

Her thermoptic field?

At a sudden thought, I hurriedly opened the notepad app on my phone.

GHOST, TELL ME ABOUT RENEW.

I stared at the message, hoping he would notice it through my eyes.

“Princess, she’s here.”

I looked up and saw Renew step out from behind a cluster of people walking toward the building’s exit nearby.

I closed the phone and pocketed it.

Renew noticed me doing so but didn’t appear to mind. Instead, she glanced silently in the direction of the bridgeway connecting the megascraper to the Tower’s Civic Center, and moments later, she stopped in front of me.

“Are you ready?” she questioned me in a clipped tone.

I casually shrugged a shoulder at her. “Lead the way.”

 

– II –

 

Was it so important for me to observe the city from Ar Telica Tower?

I frowned inwardly as I pondered the thought while riding the high-speed maglev elevator up to one of the observation decks.

Getting past the guards had been a cinch.

Renew produced photronic identification for the both of us that the guards scanned, verified, and accepted. I didn’t get to see what she showed them, but the guards didn’t bat an eyelid at my appearance, nor did they ask me to remove my sunglasses.

Once cleared for entry, I followed Renew into the building and over to an elevator bank on the tenth level that had many people queued before it.

The elevators ran within a white column more than twenty meters in diameter that rose through the middle of the building. Starting at the ground floor, it connected to the ceiling high above. I assumed that it continued all the way to the Tower’s observation and restaurant levels some four thousand feet above sea level. To get to the elevator bank, I had to pass through a security scanning gate lorded over by sentry bots – the bowling pin kind – and then join the tail end of the queue.

At sight of the gates, I hesitated as I was unsure of how they’d react to Mirai’s body.

Glancing covertly at Renew walking ahead of me, I pulled out my phone, flipped it open, and hurriedly typed: SECURITY GATES?

Again, Ghost replied through the earpiece. “Princess, you may walk through. I have taken care of them.”

I experienced yet another of those sudden shivers whenever Ghost calmly demonstrated the extent of his abilities.

If he ever turned against us—against me—would we stand a chance?

Once I’d nervously passed through one of them, I was confronted by a sentry-bot fitted with a scanning plate.

It was time to pay the admission fee.

I’d watched people wave their smart bracelets, watches, or phones over the plate to pay their way into the Tower. However, I hadn’t installed the payment app onto my phone, so instead I would have to rely on my cash card.

“Princess, relax.”

I understood Ghost was trying to reassure me, but oddly it made me feel more nervous.

Nonetheless, I tried to take his advice.

After a deep breath, I relaxed my stance as I anxiously waited for the admission fee to be deducted from the card’s balance. The transaction took only a second, but it felt like an eternity even though my mind wasn’t in an overclocked state. The sentry-bot then waved me through with a thin metal arm.

“Please, move along. Move along.”

Swallowing discreetly, I then walked the distance to the stepped dais that surrounded the white column rising through the middle of the building.

A short while later, I boarded an elevator and made the journey up the Tower.

Of course, Renew boarded it with me, though she kept her distance.

That said, the interior of the large elevator car was crowded – but not cramped – and everyone inside was doing their best to be polite and not bump into each other.

I did my part too.

Standing with my back against a wall, and my arms crossed under Mirai’s big bust, I stared up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact with the people around me who were chatting in hushed tones as the elevator soared skyward.

I may have come across as haughty, but I wasn’t in the mood to care.

Instead, I was struggling to contain my troubled feelings.

Renew had gotten me into the Tower, but now I asked myself if it really was so important to see the city from on high?

I simply didn’t know anymore, but the question was tied to another.

Was the trip worth the effort?

The answer would have to wait until I arrived at an observation deck.

For now, while staring up at the ceiling, I watched Renew in the corner of my eye.

Why does it feel like she’s the one leading me around?

Thus far, Renew had been disturbingly true to her word. She had shadowed me while giving me an abundance of room. Yet knowing she was around was as bothersome as not knowing where she was, and undoubtedly, she would vanish once again when I stepped off the elevator at one of the Tower’s many floors.

I resolved to use Mirai’s talent to keep track of Renew.

I wasn’t going to lose sight of her this time.

But if I was keeping an eye on her, how was I to enjoy the view?

The question made me sigh, and it caught Renew’s attention, but I steadfastly continued gazing upwards.

The elevator slowed swiftly to a smooth stop.

The highest level was home to the restaurants that offered diners a stunning view of the city, but I had no intention of going there, so I got off at the observation floor immediately below the restaurants, and naturally, Renew accompanied me.

I gave the spacious, circular floor a good look.

There was comfortable seating for visitors, low lying tables, information kiosks manned by holovid projections, and so forth.

In short, it was outfitted like a tourist attraction, which is indeed what it was.

Yet, despite the abundance of furniture and people, the wide open layout made me feel oddly exposed, so I began looking for good places to hide and for ways to get off this floor without relying on the elevators, such as the spiral staircases that descended to the observation floor below this one. This made me feel a little better, but it also bothered me that I was treating my surroundings this way. It was wasn’t the product of countless hours of holovid gaming. Rather, it seemed be survival training that had been imprinted into Mirai.

I completed turning full circle, then looked over at Renew who was standing a few feet away.

She too was surveying her surroundings.

She’s just like me, or maybe I’m just like her.

Then I noticed her eyes were darting about and I realized she was going further than I had.

Renew was looking at the people.

She was looking for threats.

Sensing that I was watching her, Renew faced me. “I will be around if you need me.”

Turning gracefully on her heels, she began walking away.

However, I called out to her because there was something I just had to ask.

“Have we met before?”

Renew came to a neat stop, then half turned to look at me sideways. “This is our first meeting in person.”

I shook my head. “That’s not true.”

“It isn’t?”

“We came face to face on the landing platform.”

Her eyes briefly narrowed. “You’re right.”

“But I get the feeling we’ve met before.”

She smirked faintly at me. “In a past life?”

I understood she was poking fun at me, but I wasn’t going to dismiss the unexpected shiver that ran through Mirai back on the landing platform, and then later at the megascraper.

However, what she said next left me speechless.

“Aren’t you supposed to be blonde?” she asked.

My heart thumped loudly as panic blossomed in my chest, and I needed several seconds to recover my poise well enough with a question of my own.

“What do you know about me?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Her reply was a confirmation of sorts. “So you know what I am….”

Renew turned toward me a little more. “I am aware of who you are.”

I wasn’t in the mood for word games or semantics with her, but I felt I had my answer. “Fine. I get it.”

She probably took that as her cue to leave because she started turning away again. But as she did so, she offhandedly said, “Dark hair suits you better.”

After that, I watched her walk over to a small coffee lounge about a dozen meters away.

I can’t say I was pleased with how that little repartee had ended.

I really felt like she’d won that one, but then I wondered why I was bothering to keep score when what was really important was learning that Renew was aware of Mirai and her alter-ego, Isabel val Sanreal.

I retrieved my phone from a back pocket, opened it, and then ended the call that connected me to Ghost. Pocketing the phone once more, I turned my back on Renew and walked over to an observation window.

A guardrail ran along the inside of the window to keep people away from it.

Like the permaglass of the VTOL’s cabin, the Tower’s windows were treated with something that made them non-reflective, thereby providing a clear view of the sprawling skyline at night.

Standing behind the guardrail, I looked out at the city-state before me.

After all that trouble, I was finally here and yet my mind wandered such that I couldn’t focus on the panoramic vista.

With a bitter sigh, I cleared my throat, and then quietly whispered, “Ghost, who is she?”

He replied into my ears, rather than through the earpiece I was still wearing. “I cannot say, Princess.”

“Cannot or will not?”

“Princess, I can provide you with her city-state identification, but I presume that is not what you are asking for.”

I slowly exhaled my mild frustration with him. “Just tell me what you know about her.”

“Her name is Raine Renew. She is twenty-eight years old and 177 cm tall.”

I bit my lower lip, thinking that Renew looked extremely young for her age while wondering how tall Mirai was.

Ghost then added, “From the top, her dimensions are 88—”

“Stop!” I whispered sharply. “I don’t need to know those.”

“Very well, Princess.”

I sighed softly as I leaned on the guardrail in front of me. “Can you keep it relevant? Please?”

“Relevant, you ask?” Ghost hummed thoughtfully to himself. “As you wish.” He paused as though gathering his thoughts for a moment. “Raine Renew is a member of the Sanreal Family’s private security. Her current assignment is to provide protection for Isabel val Sanreal.”

I narrowed my eyes a little. “Just me? I mean, just Isabel?”

“No. She is also responsible for Erina Kassius’s safety. However, you take priority over your sister.”

I didn’t bother reminding him that I no longer considered Erina as my sister. “What else?”

“Before she joined the Sanreal Family’s private security firm, Renew worked for Ar Telica’s Enforcer Corp from 2265 to 2271.”

I did the math. “She was an Enforcer for six years?”

“Yes. And during the last two years of her service, Renew was part of the Grey Ghosts.”

“What are they?”

“An Enforcer division responsible for protecting visiting dignitaries and other very important people. In short, they are an elite division of public security. But there is something else I should mention. Earlier, I told you I had compiled a short list of candidates who could be dispatched to pursue you on short notice. Raine Renew was at the top of my list.”

“Then you think it’s Renew who chased after me?”

“Aye, Princess. She is particularly adept at using thermoptic fields and glider packs. Another specialty of hers is long range sniping from the air. Death from above, as the saying goes.”

So it was her.

The grim concern in his voice made me regret keeping it a secret, but Renew’s aura matched what I remembered of the lifeforce that radiated from the woman who’d first hunted me down the side of the megascraper before the chase moved onto the speeding maglev. As such, Ghost’s revelation wasn’t that surprising to me. Rather, it was an affirmation of what I’d already surmised on my own.

I leaned a little more on the guardrail, and then stared off into the darkness that lay beyond Ar Telica.

She chased me down that building, onto a maglev, and then acted like it never happened. What a bitch.

“Princess, may I ask you a question?”

I dragged my thoughts back to the present. “Sure….”

“Why did you ask her if you had met her before?”

On impulse, I started gnawing on my lower lip.

Should I tell him?

“Princess?”

I decided to be open with him. “I have this weird feeling sometimes when I’m close to her.”

Ghost was quiet for a short while before cautiously asking, “A weird feeling? Could you elaborate upon it?”

I shook my head gently. “I don’t think I can. All I can say is that something about Renew made Mirai shiver when we first met her back on the VTOL.”

“Mirai, you say?”

I silently nodded.

Ghost hummed for a second. “Perhaps that would explain something curious about Miss Renew.”

“Like what?”

“The fact that elements of her data are encased in a block of ICE. And the nature of that ICE matches the ICE surrounding Mirai’s data. Other personnel associate with the Sanreal Family have security around their data files, but I have noticed that only individuals associated with Project Mirai have their profiles protected by an ICE barrier. In addition, we can also infer from your recent conversation with Miss Renew that she is aware of your nature. However, this does not explain why Mirai remembers her. It simply establishes a connection between Project Mirai and Miss Renew.”

On the one hand, this eased my mind a little, but like Ghost had said, it didn’t answer why I experienced a vaguely metaphysical connection to Renew.

Should I ask Erina about her?

Shaking my head slowly, I sighed so heavily it made my body shudder.

No, I doubt I’d get a straight answer from her.

I was about to sigh again when I felt my phone vibrating in a back pocket. Thinking it was Ghost, I answered the call without looking at the screen. “Ghost? Why are you calling me—?”

A girl’s laughter cut me off. “Ghost? Who’s Ghost?”

Flinching sharply, I hurriedly looked at the caller ID on the screen but there was none.

What the Hell?

Unbidden, Ghost quickly said, “Princess, I assure you. I have not given anyone your number.”

Lifting the phone back up to my right ear, I turned around, then swiftly gazed over the observation deck.

The unknown girl chuckled. “Oh, that’s a good one. You didn’t bother asking who I was. You went straight to searching for me. I wasn’t expecting that. You’re certainly fast thinker.”

Conveniently and perhaps on cue, Mirai overclocked her consciousness.

Then again, it could have been my doing, yet that seemed unlikely to me.

Rather, she was probably responding to the sudden, sharp spike in tension I was experiencing. In other words, being called out of the blue by an unknown girl who mysteriously had my unlisted number had made me very, very worried.

“Hello? Are you still there?”

Why was she asking? She could obviously see me, that is, she had eyes on me, so why bother asking?

“Hello? Are you there?”

I felt no urgent obligation to reply to her.

Instead, I considered from where she could be spying on me?

Facing the interior of the observation level, I leaned my back against the guardrail, and continued sweeping my gaze back and forth over the people on this floor. A few of them were talking on their phones, but none of them was a young woman. On the other hand, maybe it wasn’t a teenage girl on the phone. Perhaps it was someone using a voice changer, yet it sounded quite natural despite coming from the phone’s speaker.

My searching gaze found Raine Renew sitting on a butterfly chair. She was watching me while sipping something from a disposable cup.

I narrowly avoided meeting her eyes, just as the unknown girl on the phone spoke again.

“You don’t want to talk to me? In that case, relax and listen up.”

The girl coughed as though dramatically clearing her throat.

“Now then. Helping you out with the maglev was a freebie. A favor to a friend. I won’t call us comrades-in-arms, but you did try to save me once. It was a futile effort, but it touched me deeply. So, I decided to help you out with the train.”

What was she saying?

I had tried to save her, and it proved futile?

Perplexed, I strove to remember when I’d attempted to save someone only to fail.

There was Mat and Shirohime, but Erina had said they were both alive and recovering in medical stasis chambers, hence I crossed them off the list.

But who did that leave on the list?

Clarisol? Nope.

Erina? Definitely not.

Who could I have possibly failed to save that was somehow still alive?

That made no sense to me.

The girl carried on while my thoughts were twisted in a knot.

“But now, I’m going to offer you something, and if you accept, you’ll owe me a favor.”

Ghost had materialized off to my right. I glanced at him and he quickly shook his head at me, but I didn’t know if he was warning me to be cautious or to reject the girl’s offer.

“Are you interested?” the girl asked. “If so, give me a nod for yes, and a shake for no.” Abruptly, she chortled. “I mean shake your head, not your booty.”

With that statement, she more or less confirmed that she was watching me.

But from where?

Was she inside the tower? Was she on this floor? Or was she watching me through the Tower’s surveillance cameras just like Ghost was able to?

Or perhaps she wasn’t inside the Tower at all.

I turned around slowly and looked out the window at the megascrapers surrounding the Tower. Though they were quite tall in their own right, but they were not the tallest structure in Ar Telica, so I was able to look down at them. However, was it possible that the unknown girl was watching me from one of those buildings?

“Is that a Yes or a No?”

I swallowed anxiously as I peered at the massive megascrapers that I could see through the window.

“Come on, girl. Don’t leave me hanging. I’m dying out here. Give me a sign.”

She wanted a sign and I wanted to know from where she was watching me.

Ghost smoothly cut in with a suggestion. “Princess, walk counter-clockwise along the perimeter.”

Puzzled, I hesitated for a couple of seconds before doing as he suggested.

The girl on the phone chuckled.

“Oh, I get it now. You think I’m outside the Tower watching you. You’re pretty smart. And that’s a Yes. I’m somewhere out there in the darkness between the bright city lights.”

The sound of clapping came from the phone’s speaker, but I didn’t stop walking. When I encountered people looking out at the city, I walked around them and continued silently along my way.

“But even if you walk to the opposite side of the Tower, I can still see you.”

Undeterred, I carried on until I arrived at a point roughly two radians from where I’d started.

“Let me put it to you this way, you can run but you can’t hide.”

Spotting one of the spiral staircases leading down to the observation level below this one, I started heading toward it until Ghost unexpectedly appeared before me.

“Princess, I believe there is no need to go downstairs.”

At a standstill, I threw him a questioning look.

He then explained, “I believe she is using a stealth drone to spy on you from outside the Tower.”

So that’s how she’s keeping up with me.

Exhaling with a mixture of relief and frustration, I floundered on what to do next until I spied a vacant sofa-like seat a few meters away. Since there was no point walking around, I decided to sit down instead. So, as nonchalantly as possible, I walked over to the seat and dropped myself into it. When I crossed my legs, I unexpectedly did so like a girl. It briefly surprised me and added to the growing list of questions I was compiling about Mirai. But they were questions best left for another time, because for now, I had an entirely different sort of question to ask.

“Who are you?”

“Ah! She speaks!”

I bit my lower lip, took a short breath, then warily repeated, “Who are you?”

“A friend. No—that’s going to far.” She paused for a second before hurriedly saying, “I’m someone with a special interest in you because you’re a special girl. And I’ll point out that you’re a lot tougher than you look.”

I couldn’t fathom why she would say something like that, and yet, what I asked was, “What do you want?”

“To give you a taste of freedom for at least a few hours.”

Surprised, my breath caught in my lungs. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you’re tagged. Wherever you go, they go. It’s worse than having your parents chaperone you on prom night.”

I nervously wondered, How the Hell did she know that?

Had this girl been listening in on my conversation with Erina back at the café?

Wait—what does she mean by prom night?

“Are you interested?” Somehow, she sounded more like she was teasing me rather than asking. “Well? Cat got your tongue?”

I inhaled deeply while worrying about what I was getting myself into if I continued to listen to her.

“Get to the point,” I demanded.

“Don’t you want a few hours to yourself? Alone?”

I was making a bad habit out of biting my lower lip, but it failed to distract me from the anxious sensation swirling inside my chest. “I can’t do that. I have an agreement with—”

“I can make you disappear from their eyes, Mirai.”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, yet hearing this unknown girl call me Mirai made my heart twinge on top of the uncertainty and anxiety I was already experiencing. Was it because I’d been consciously or maybe subconsciously thinking of myself as Isabel? I didn’t know, or maybe, I didn’t want to know. Either way, I was presented with a problem: I had no idea who this girl was, but she clearly knew about Mirai, and she claimed that I’d helped her before.

Unfortunately, that didn’t ring any bells.

“I’ll ask you again. Are you interested?”

Honestly, her offer made me anxious rather interested because of the problem it presented.

If Erina and the Sanreals lost track of me, there might be Hell to pay, and there was also the matter of having given Erina my word. As rebellious as I was, breaking my word didn’t sit right with me on many levels.

Regardless, if I dropped out of sight, there would be consequences.

Then again, Ghost was chaperoning me and he could keep Erina informed of my situation.

With that in mind, a sliver of curiosity made me ask, “How do you plan on doing that? Are you going to translocate me away from Ar Telica?”

“That is a lot easier said than done. Therefore, in answer to your question: No. Not happening. Also, doing so is likely to start a war.”

That sent a chill running through me. “A war?”

“Yep, and that’s something I want to avoid. There are rules that even I’m loath to break. Thus, the most I can offer you is a few hours of privacy.”

“Why?”

“Think of it this way. If I do you a favor now, you do me a favor later.”

I mulled it over for a few seconds, trying to figure out the angles, but then decided to be blunt with this girl.

“I don’t know who you are, so I can’t accept your offer.”

“Okay. Then how about us getting together to chat.”

Not entirely unexpected, yet I was suspicious of how easily she made the proposal, sounding as though it was something she’d already planned for, so perhaps that was her intention all along.

Narrowing my eyes, I allowed myself to sound uncertain when asking, “To chat? Are you serious?”

“Most of the time.”

I swallowed quickly. “What do you want to chat about?”

“About your sister. About Clarisol val Sanreal. And about you.”

“What about me…?”

I suspect she was smiling when she asked, “Oh? Did that get your attention?”

Honestly?

Yes and no.

Her offer intrigued me, but it also rang like a warning klaxon inside my head. Because of this, I spent a long while vacillating between yay or nay.

Sensing this, it was no surprise to hear Ghost break into my thoughts. However, what he said was entirely unforeseen.

“Princess, this may prove to be an interesting opportunity.”

Shocked, I almost dropped the phone.

When I recovered my hold on the device, I quickly said, “Excuse me for a minute.”

Muting myself on the open line, I then lowered the phone to my lap. However, I felt that wasn’t going far enough so I bowed my head, and then covered my mouth with a free hand.

“Why?” I whispered to Ghost.

“Because, Princess, I would like to hear what secrets she knows…or believes that she knows.”

I tightly pressed my lips together.

Ghost’s personal desire overlapped with mine.

In all honesty, I was both curious and afraid of what the unknown girl knew about Erina, Clarisol, Mirai, and possibly the identity of Isabel val Sanreal. However, breaking my word to my former sister continued to gnaw at me.

“What about Erina?” I whispered. “If she loses track of me, she’s going to be pissed.”

“Princess, I will keep Doctor Kassius informed of the situation.”

“But what about the Sanreals? Won’t they launch a city-wide search for me?”

“Not if they know where you are, courtesy of your friendly Ghost.”

“…I doubt it’s that easy…,” I muttered under my breath. “But even so….”

“Princess, have a little faith in me. At the very least, allow me to demonstrate my diplomatic skills.”

Diplomatic skills?

For a brief moment, I had the impression that Ghost was going to mediate between various parties. I then wondered if there was more than one faction within the Sanreals with differing views on Project Mirai.

“What about Renew?” I softly asked.

“What about her?”

“Doesn’t she answer to Simon Sanreal?”

With my head bowed, I was looking down at my lap, thus unable to see what expression he was making. Hence, I was surprised to see Ghost kneel before me on bended knee.

Looking up at my downturned face, he gently asked, “And what if she does?”

My eyes widened slowly as I understood what he meant.

“Hello? Telos to Mirai? Is anybody home?”

Ghost offered me a faint, yet reassuring smile. “Princess, what is your answer?”

Good question. What was my answer?

Despite knowing that Ghost was supporting me, I felt pressured by both him and the girl on the phone, and that choked me a little. I had to hastily swallow a couple of times to clear my throat, before I unmuted my end of the call, and then lifted the phone back up to my right ear.

“I have a shadow.”

“Well of course you do. You’re not a ghost.”

I exhaled loudly before retorting through clenched teeth, “That’s not what I meant.”

To my surprise, when she spoke again her tone had grown distinctly cold. “I know what you meant. But trust me, I have a way of taking care of your shadow.”

The chill in her voice was something I simply couldn’t ignore. “How…?”

“For starters, I need you to start moving so that she’ll follow you.”

“And then what?”

“Draw her outside the building. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Hearing that, my stomach clenched unpleasantly with worry. “Your going to harm her?”

“I don’t need to harm her to get her out of the way.”

“Then what will you do?”

“That’s something you don’t need to worry about. Trust me. She will come to no harm.”

I didn’t know why I was suddenly concerned about Renew, but it was a feeling that I couldn’t shake, and so I lowered the phone, bowed my head, and then whispered to Ghost, “…what do you think...?”

“Princess, I can pass along a warning. However, that may tip our hand.”

I painfully bit my lower lip.

Again, Ghost had a point. It could make the situation worse if Renew was expecting an attack. That being said, she had to be aware there were risks that came with escorting me about the city. Yet, this still felt wrong. It was as though she was being sacrificed all for the sake of maintaining a lie to trick the girl on the phone.

There has to be another way.

I heard something creak and realized it was the flip-top phone in my right hand. My fingers were slowly crushing the plasteel casing, so I hurriedly relaxed them.

Looking up, I stared out at the city.

Is this how things are going to be? Intrigue, cloak and dagger, people coming to harm or being put in harm’s way all because of me or what people want from me?

My throat felt tight as I swallowed anxiously, before coming to a decision.

No, there is another way.

After a couple of deep breaths, I lifted the phone to my ear again. “You said you wanted to chat, then let’s chat. But we do it my way and no one gets hurt.”

“…I’m listening….”

“You’re tracking me just like the Sanreals are.”

“I’m not going to say.”

“Fine. Don’t tell me how you’re doing it. Just tell me if you can track me across the city.”

“I can—”

“Then I’ll make it easier for you. I’ll tell you where I’m going next.”

“No need. I can hazard a guess. It’s a place where you can reconnect with your past…albeit briefly.”

My breath caught in my chest making it difficult to speak. “You know where I’m going?”

“It’s where you should have gone first,” she replied, and her tone gave me the impression she was smirking at me.

In other words, I could all but hear the ‘Gotcha!’ in her voice.

Damn it—who the Hell is this girl?

Despite being caught off guard by her, I grabbed a tight rein on my composure because I couldn’t afford to stumble again. She was watching me from whereabouts unknown, so I had to maintain a strong façade and a firm tone to match it

“Good. Then you can meet me there in a few hours.”

“A few hours?”

“That’s right. Because I want some alone time, and you promised me that.”

“Ah, yes, but—”

“You and I will chat, but it’ll be on my terms. Take it or leave it.”

I ended the call, then snapped the phone shut. As I did so, I noticed my hand was trembling, and my heart was racing inside my chest.

Was this the result of adrenaline coursing through my body?

I snorted softly, thinking this reaction was surprisingly human of Mirai before reminding myself that she wasn’t a machine – she was flesh and blood. But I didn’t believe it was Mirai who was suffering from an adrenaline rush.

It was me.

As Ronin Kassius, I’d never been an assertive person. I’d avoided arguments and mostly gone with the flow because it was safest. But now as Isabel, I’d made a choice without consulting anyone other than Ghost, so it was natural to be a little scared. However, I had made my choice, and now it was time to see it through.

After quietly pocketing the phone, I remained seated as I looked through the observation windows at the sprawling city surrounding the Tower. After a short while, I quietly cleared my throat, then softly asked, “Ghost, is Renew still watching us?”

He had risen to his feet and was now standing beside my seat. “Indeed. She has been observing us intently.”

Glancing up at him, I saw him looking off to my right, however, I didn’t feel it was wise for me to follow his gaze.

Instead, I softly whispered, “Is that so…,” and kept it at that.

Renew was aware that I’d been on the phone, but she probably didn’t know to whom I was talking to. And while I was conversing with the unknown girl, I had been sitting down facing away from Renew, so she would have been unable to read my lips.

Would she consider that as suspicious behavior on my part?

Would she think I was talking to Erina?

Suspecting that something was afoot, would she call in for instructions?

If so, and depending on what orders she received, my plan could still go wrong—very, very wrong—and if it went south, then Renew was likely to be hurt.

It may sound ironic that I was concerned for her, especially since I was certain Renew had chased me down the side of a giant building while shooting electro-shock darts at me, but having her blindsided by the unknown girl continued to feel wrong to me. I may have felt differently if Renew was a Simulacrum or operating a mechanical avatar like Straus and her Cat Princess, but she wasn’t – she was a human being and thereby vulnerable.

Yet what really troubled me was the possibility that I was leading Renew into a trap.

It made me complicit in the unknown girl’s plan to take Renew out of the picture, and that was something that I couldn’t accept which was why I was hoping my plan would pan out.

If it all went well, then nobody would be hurt.

Hope for the best, I told myself before asking Ghost, “Do you know where I’m going next?”

“Yes, Princess, I believe I do….”

I snorted inwardly and sarcastically thought, Great minds think alike.

“Good. Then tell Erina. That way if Renew questions me about who I was talking to, I can tell her I was talking to Erina.”

“Princess, you want me to tell your sister to play along?”

Looking up, I glared at him through narrowed eyes. “Ghost, she’s not my sister. I’ve told you that already.”

He hesitated before nodding contritely. “Yes, you have. I apologize, Princess.”

I softened my glare, then averted my gaze. “Just tell Erina…tell her where I’m going.”

In the corner of my eye, I caught his gloomy smile. “That may not hold up to scrutiny.”

“I’ll take the chance.” I hesitated before adding, “But if you need to tell her the truth, I’ll let you make that call.”

“I understand.” A moment later, Ghost frowned down at me. “Princess, about what I said earlier—”

“Forget it,” I cut him off softly. “I just don’t think it’s right for Renew to be hurt like this. And something tells me that given half the chance, that girl will definitely hurt her.” I glanced up at him. “She’s looking forward to hurting Renew. I know it. I can feel it in my gut. And that’s why I want to keep this between us. I don’t want Renew catching on. I don’t want her trying to second guess me and making a mess of things.”

Ghost seemed conflicted yet he accepted to my decision with a shallow nod. “I understand, Princess.”

Staring out the windows again, I sighed heavily at the city buildings, and wondered with a touch of dread what it was that awaited me out there.

---

Thank you for getting this far.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The new "The Gun Princess Royale" will hopefully be release on Amazon Kindle as an eBook in 2023.
It all depends on what issues my editor friend finds with the story.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

Amidst the political maneuvering, while slowly reconciling his past as Ronin Kassius, Isabel faces a new threat from Tabitha Hexen who reveals her own agenda in wanting to fight Mirai in a Gun Princess Royale battle.

---

– I –

 

I held deep misgivings as I looked up at the immense apartment complex that served as a dormitory building for many of the students of Telos Academy.

But it was too late to think of a better plan.

Rather than walk or catch the maglev, Renew had a car waiting for us outside the Civic Center. No doubt she had received word from her superiors about my decision to come here after Ghost relayed my intention to Erina.

However, I didn’t know – or care – if the car was her idea.

Instead, what I cared about was arriving at the building without incident.

That said, my heart did jump into my throat when I first climbed into the car and recognized the driver as the Simulacrum sister who had chased me out of the apartment. Fearing an ambush, I almost bolted out of the car, especially when Renew sat beside me in the backseat. But with the doors locked, making a break for it would have required some serious effort. Mirai was strong but she was unarmed, whereas Renew and the Simulacrum sister were undoubtedly carrying concealed weapons.

Had Ghost not been reining me back – insisting that I was safe – I would have taken my chances and fought for freedom. Thus, you can imagine my relief when I was finally out of the car and standing on a sidewalk outside the sixty storey dorm building.

The residential complex was large enough to house Telos Academy’s six thousand students – give or take a few dozen – but it had the room for many more. Because of this, scores of students that should have been sharing an apartment with others found themselves living alone in family sized dwellings. Others, like myself, were assigned to hotel sized rooms that were spacious but hardly awe inspiring. In addition, it wasn’t just the students that lived there, but teachers, administrative staff, and maintenance personnel, though they resided on separate floors from the rest of the students.

So why such a large building for just one school?

The truth was that Telos Academy was only operating at two-thirds capacity, with numerous classrooms waiting to be opened to accommodate a growing student body. As Ar Telica continued to add habitation Rings and expand its footprint across the east coast, there would be an increased demand for the school, and so the apartment complex was purchased by the Telos Corporation and converted into a dormitory for both students and the faculty.

I counted up to the thirty-fifth floor where my old dorm apartment was located on the south-east face of the hexagonal building. The light to my room – that is, the light to Ronin Kassius’s room – was turned off and the balcony windows were dark. That didn’t guarantee the apartment was unoccupied, though it would be disconcerting if it had already been reassigned to someone else a mere day after my disappearance. On the other hand, if the room still belonged to Ronin Kassius, I would be entering it as a stranger despite being intimately acquainted with it.

Misgivings and reservations aside, I had little choice but to come here.

Both the curfew and needing to being chaperoned by Renew had taken the fun out of walking through the city, so spending the rest of the morning hiding out in the building was fine if it meant avoiding unnecessary conflict, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t curious about the identity of the girl on the phone.

The dorm building’s ground floor had broad steps leading up to a permaglass wall with a panoramic view of the street.

It also had two very wide sliding doors that were presently shut.

I gave those doors a very pointed look that Ghost quickly understood.

“Princess, there is a Category Nine Ancile firewall surrounding the building’s photronic infrastructure. Your military uses something similar to prevent its autonomous vehicles from outside interference. I can break through it, but it will take time. Thus, I suggest finding another way in.”

I turned to Renew who was standing off to my left. “How do I get in?”

“I have access into the building,” she replied in a flat tone, then jerked her chin at the entrance. “Shall we?”

With a grim heart, I glanced up at the dorm building and once again asked myself if it was wise to come here. But I had no alternative course of action.

Let’s be honest, I didn’t like Raine Renew.

She’d chased me down a building while firing electroshock rounds at me that scorched my clothes and skin. Regardless of whether she was following orders, I wasn’t going to forgive her anytime in this millennium. I had a score to settle with her, but it was mine and mine alone to deal with. I wasn’t going to let the unknown girl get to her first. So if coming here was going to keep her out of harm’s way for now, then I had no choice but to see this through.

Facing her again, I gave Renew a curt nod. “Lead the way.”

And she did just that.

I followed her up to the transparent doors of the building’s ground floor entrance. We had to wait a couple of seconds before they opened to admit us into the dark foyer. The building was operating in night-time mode, but soft lighting turned on to illuminate our surroundings as Renew and I walked over to the front desk. Alerted to our presence, a sentry bot emerged from an alcove in the wall behind the desk. The machine floated a couple of inches off the ground as it flew toward us, then swiftly stopped to hover in front of Renew and I.

The bot reminded me of an upside-down electric shaver. Floating upright, it stood three feet tall, and possessed a smooth plasteel body painted in a light grey color with black trimmings. At its base, three effect-field impellers hummed softly as they levitated the bot off the ground. Six beady camera eyes were arranged in two columns down the face of its tapered head, and the name PERCEVAL was printed boldly down its flanks. When it spoke, it questioned us in a stuffy male voice.

“Are you aware that it is past curfew?”

Like most of the students living in the dorm building, I was accustomed to its uppity tone, so I didn’t bat an eyelid at Perceval’s presumptuous manner of speaking. However, Renew wasn’t a resident and she regarded the bot with veiled distaste.

“I am aware of that,” she replied in an icy tone.

Perceval leaned back slightly as though taken aback by her cold reply, then boldly thrust its tapered head toward her. “In that case, state your intentions—hah!”

Its startled gasp gave me a start, but Renew merely narrowed her eyes at it.

“What’s the matter with you?” she demanded.

Straightening its posture, the bot rose higher into the air until it hovered at eye level with her. “Firearms are not permitted in this building.”

I failed to hide my surprise.

I wasn’t shocked to learn that Renew was packing heat because that was a given in her line of work. Rather, I was stunned to learn that Perceval had noticed she was carrying a gun.

What kind of sensors is this thing equipped with?

Renew extended her left wrist toward the bot, as though offering it the silver bracelet that she wore. “I’m with Telos Corporation security. Here’s my ID.”

Perceval’s camera eyes peered down at the bracelet. “Raine Renew. Soteria Division. Identification code: Artemis Thirteen.” It paused before grudgingly declaring, “Very well, you may keep your firearm.”

A slow frown broke out across Renew’s forehead as she watched the machine float down to the floor, and her lifeforce aura flared hotly for a moment.

Undoubtedly, Perceval failed to notice the flash of anger that I’d just witnessed. But even if it had, I doubted the machine would have toned down its haughty manner of speaking.

“I will ask you once more,” Perceval said. “State your intentions for coming here…with a gun.”

His request – or demand – was met with stony silence from Renew, who slowly folded her arms under her breasts and stared down at the bot with growing contempt.

This served to dial up the heat under Perceval butt, and the machine bobbed indignantly on its effect fields. “Do I have to ask you a third time?”

If Renew had chosen to shoot the bot in the head, I wouldn’t have stopped her.

Perceval was annoying at the best of times, and despite many students lodging complaints with management, nothing had been done about the machine’s self-important attitude. Attempts to hack its core programming had failed. So too had the attempt to seal it within its alcove behind the front desk. Perceval had literally ripped itself free of the wall in a burst of machine fury. Then it chased after students while demanding to know who was responsible for trapping it inside its alcove. Eventually, technicians from the maintenance company were called in to take the irate bot away. When it returned to duty a few days later, it had no recollection of the event, but its behavior was as conceited as ever…if not worse.

However, one thing surprised me.

Renew had acted indifferently toward me, yet Perceval had succeeded in getting under her skin almost from the get-go.

Could it be that she had a grudge against semi-sentient machines?

That said, Perceval had a habit of getting under everybody’s skin, and Renew wasn’t bothering to hide the contempt she felt for it.

Exhaling loudly, she stared down her nose at the bot. “We require access to one of the dorm rooms.”

Perceval leaned back ever so slightly as it looked up at her.

I imagined its camera eyes narrowing in suspicion when it then asked, “At this hour? Please explain why.”

“No. That’s classified,” Renew swiftly countered. “Just unlock room 35 dash 16 for us.”

My heart jumped in my chest when I heard her quote my dorm room number.

I was already aware that Renew had some deep connection to Project Mirai, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, and yet it did.

But it also suggested that she knew who I used to be.

Or perhaps Erina had told her I’d be coming here but didn’t tell her why.

Either way, it still surprised me, something that I hoped Renew hadn’t noticed.

As for Perceval, the bot jerked on its effect-fields before sharply retorting, “Excuse me?”

Renew took a menacing step closer to the machine. “Are you hard of hearing?”

“I most certainly am not,” Perceval retorted.

“Then unlock room 35 dash 16.”

For a second, the bot appeared to tremble as though it was bottling up its rage before blurting out, “I will do no such thing. That room has been allocated to a student. I demand to know why you require access to it.”

I noticed I was holding my breath and subsequently released it slowly. “Excuse me.”

As though reluctant to break eye contact with Renew, Perceval swung half its camera eyes my way. “Yes? What is it? Who are you?”

“My name is Isabel.”

“Yes? And?”

Up until then, I’d been a bit anxious to speak up. But having Perceval question me while sounding hoity-toity had quashed most of my hesitation. As a result, I wasn’t nearly as bothered when I asked, “Who is the student in room 35 dash 16?”

“And who is asking?” the bot questioned me.

I frowned at it. “I just told you. My name is Isabel.”

“And what is your relationship to the student in room 35 dash 16?”

My frown turned into a scowl. “Hey, it’s rude to answer a question with a question.”

“You have a point,” Perceval agreed. “However, I cannot disclose that information without the proper authorization on your part.”

I dropped my scowl and palmed my forehead. “I can’t believe this….”

“What can you not believe?” the bot inquired.

I gave the machine a sour look. “I can’t believe you’re such a dick.”

Perceval floated in stunned silence. “What did you say?”

I groaned and palmed my forehead again. “I seriously can’t believe this….”

Ghost sounded curious in my ears. “Princess, does it always behave like this?”

I nodded very, very faintly. “Yeah, pretty much,” I whispered.

“Surprising,” Ghost murmured, “or should I say most peculiar. Then again, the Asterios models do serve as home butlers and concierges. Nevertheless, I must wonder if this unit has been branded with a unique personality.”

Was Ghost implying someone had tweaked its behavior matrix?

Was it someone with a twisted sense of humor—perhaps a Joker of an engineer back at the factory?

Swallowing quietly, I asked him in a hushed whisper, “Can you do something about it?”

Unfortunately, Perceval heard me. “Why are you muttering to yourself?”

I groaned inwardly.

Damn the bot’s sharp hearing.

I then gave the oversized, upside-down electric shaver a tired look. “I’m talking to my invisible friend.”

The bot leaned back, then regarded me suspiciously. “Talking to oneself is a sign of—”

A loud clink, that of metal on metal, silenced it.

Renew had drawn her gun, and was pressing its muzzle against the bot’s smooth, tapered head.

Honestly, I wasn’t surprised to see that she’d finally snapped and pulled a gun on the bot.

Instead, what surprised me was that she’d drawn the gun so casually that her movements had completely slipped my notice.

Holy crap, I whispered inwardly. She’s good. The Cat Princess could learn a thing or two from her.

I then quickly reconsidered that last thought.

Nope, that would be a bad idea. A bad idea!

Renew’s icy tone frosted her words. “We don’t have time for this, so start co-operating or—”

A spinning red siren popped out of Perceval’s head.

Thankfully, it was silent and only flashing its red light, but the bot sounded royally peeved when it reported, “I have notified the local authorities of your transgression toward me.”

Ghost started to laugh.

It was so unexpected, that I chortled as well.

The bot’s beady eyes seemed to glare at me. “I do not find this situation amusing.”

Palming my mouth contritely, I muttered a hasty apology before glancing at Renew. “You said you had access to get in there, right?”

“I have access into the building,” she explained. “But no one told me this thing was going to get in our way.”

That was a surprise to hear because I’d assumed that she’d been briefed on the building’s starchy concierge. Nonetheless, she was quite right. Perceval was a hindrance and not a help.

I knew the way to my dorm room, and I had the entry code to open its door.

The problem was getting past Perceval, and unfortunately Renew had just made things worse.

I shook my head at her. “Shooting it isn’t going to help. And what are you going to do when the Enforcers get here? Or are you planning on disposing of the body?”

Pressing her lips tightly together, Renew stared down at Perceval for a short while before lowering her gun.

“Fine, then we’re leaving,” she declared in her customary deadpan manner. “Let’s go.”

Unfortunately, that presented an even bigger problem, since a major reason for coming here was to avoid the unknown girl harming her.

Hence, I panicked as I watched Renew turn on her heels.

“Wait—we can’t leave.”

She stopped, then looked at me over a shoulder. “Why not?”

“Yes, why not?” Perceval asked.

I floundered as I exchanged looks between them. “Because…because…because we just can’t.”

Renew’s expression was unreadable, however, Perceval tipped slightly to one side and complained, “That is an unsatisfactory explanation.”

I crossed my arms stubbornly under Mirai’s breasts, then jerked my chin at Renew. “You can leave if you want, but I’m staying.”

Renew remained impassive but the bot was another matter.

“Unacceptable,” it declared while bobbing on its effect-field. “Utterly unacceptable.”

I scowled at it. “Why are you being so difficult?”

“Difficult, you ask?” The bot froze but its siren light spun faster. “You cannot waltz into this residence and simply demand to be taken to someone’s room without permission.”

Renew turned away again. “As I said, we’re leaving.”

And I started grinding my teeth together.

No, this is NOT happening! NOT HAPPENING!

By now, Ghost had brought his laughter under control. “Princess, I have a means of resolving this situation.”

I gaped, then gasped before asking, “You do?”

“You do, what?” Perceval questioned me.

“Will you shut up.”

“No, I will not shut up.”

I raised a fist at it. “I’m going to hit you!”

Perceval extended two thin plasteel arms and held them at the ready. “You are most welcome to try.”

All the while, the siren light continued to spin madly on its head.

Ghost snickered. “Princess, I suggest you offer it a handshake.”

I released an exasperated groan. “Ghost, seriously? Just look at it. It’s ready to go nine rounds with me.”

Unexpectedly, Perceval lowered its ‘dukes’ and floated closer to me. “I say, are you unwell? Your proclivity for whispering to yourself is clearly a sign of mental instability.”

Releasing another groan, I glared down at the infuriating machine.

Oh, what the Hell. What harm could it do? We’re already up the creek. How much worse can it get?

Forcing myself to smile, I stiffly offered the bot my righthand in greeting. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Isabel. What’s yours?”

The bot stopped and appeared confused for a moment before replying, “Yes, of course.” Retracting its left arm into its body, it then extended its right hand toward me. “A pleasure to meet you, Isabel. My name is—”

Seconds after shaking hands with me, the bot trembled and fell silent. However, it remained hovering on its effect-field impellers and its siren light continued spinning silently.

“What—what happened to it?” I muttered.

Renew had come to a stop and was staring at the floating machine with a faintly perplexed look. “What did you do to it?”

“Nothing,” I admitted. “I just shook its hand—huh?”

Suddenly, the siren light retracted into Perceval’s head. Quickly releasing my hand, the bot floated back a step.

What’s going on? I wondered with a pinch of worry.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed the gun was back in Renew’s hand as she watched the machine in guarded silence.

“Hey,” I said to her, “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

But just then, Perceval stirred into action.

Oh, what now?

Abruptly, Perceval extended its left arm again, then used both hands and arms to offer me a rigid bow. “Your Highness, forgive my lack of decorum.”

“What the…?” I whispered in confusion.

Even Renew was taken aback though she regained her stoic demeanor in the blink of an eye.

Perceval continued to bow before me with downcast camera eyes. “Your Highness, how may I serve you?”

Renew warily stepped closer to me. “I’ll ask you again. What did you do to it?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Like I said before, nothing.”

Renew wasn’t buying it, but I wasn’t going to admit that Ghost had undoubtedly hacked the machine when I made contact with it. I didn’t know why he needed me to touch it. Maybe it was to keep up a pretense of some sort. Whatever the reason, I glanced at my right hand but saw nothing unusual about it.

Ghost chuckled gently. “Princess, there is no need to be concerned. I merely switched the Asterios unit over to a different personality program, one of many that it is loaded with, and one that is subservient to royalty.”

Royalty?

“What do you mean?” I whispered uneasily.

“I made it believe that you are a princess visiting Teloria from a kingdom far beyond the star system.”

My mouth fell open.

Ghost then added, “Therefore, Princess, I suggest you play along with it.”

I closed my mouth slowly, then sighed wearily as my shoulders slumped. “I don’t believe this….”

Staring down at the patiently waiting Perceval, I wondered how I should act, then decided to draw inspiration from Erina. With her personality firmly in mind, I cleared my throat, and then looked down my nose at the floating sentry bot. Yet despite this, I almost choked when I said, “I am Princess Isabel val Sanreal. Do you have a name?”

I already knew its name, but it seemed wrong not to ask.

The bot nodded which was quite a feat since it had no neck. “I am Perceval, your Highness, and I am at your service.”

I heard Ghost chuckle again in my ears.

Ignoring him as best I could, I swallowed and cleared my throat again. “Perceval, I would like to be taken to room 35 dash 16. An acquaintance of mine is staying there.”

The bot straightened. “As you wish, your Highness. Are they expecting you?”

“Ah, no. No, I…I don’t think so.”

“Then shall I inform them of your arrival?”

I couldn’t believe how helpful the machine was behaving after acting like such a stick in the mud. “Ah…no, that’s fine. I’d rather surprise them instead.”

Again, the bot nodded stiffly. “As you wish, Princess Isabel.” It gestured with a small mechanical hand toward the elevators at one end of the foyer. “This way, please.”

As Perceval floated off toward the elevator bank, Renew approached me. “I wasn’t aware that you were royalty.”

Again, I glanced down at my right hand. “Me neither….” Then I gasped as I abruptly remembered something important. “Hey, wait!” I called out to Perceval.

The bot came to a floating stop, then spun around to face me. “Your Highness?”

I hastily walked up to it. “You said you called the Enforcers. Can you cancel that call? Can you tell them it was a false alarm?”

“A call, your Highness?” Perceval questioned politely. “I have no memory of making any such a call.”

Ghost stepped into the conversation. “At ease, Princess. I used Sir Perceval to rescind that call to the authorities, then removed it from the unit’s memory cells.”

I exhaled slowly in relief. “Cool, great.”

Perceval was staring at me expectantly. At least, that’s the impression it gave me, so I waved a hand in apology. “Sorry. My bad. Ignore what I just said.”

“As you wish, your Highness.”

I started to grimace.

I’d grown accustomed to hearing Ghost address me as ‘Princess’, but being called ‘your Highness’ was making me feel a little nauseous.

“Ah, Perceval. Could I ask that you call me Isabel?” I gave it a queasy smile. “You don’t have to be so formal with me.”

The bot was silent for a couple of seconds before bowing to me once again. “Your Highness. I could hardly dispense with such a formality.”

I stifled a groan. “Great….”

Standing a few feet away, Renew asked, “What about the Enforcers?”

I shook my head quickly. “Don’t worry about it. They’ve been taken care of.”

“How?”

“Just—just trust me on this. It’s not a problem anymore.”

“I disagree.” She pointed at the building’s entrance. “Take a look.”

Beyond the transparent permaglass doors, I saw the silhouettes of a couple of hulking Enforcers climbing up the steps to the entrance.

And I say ‘hulking’ because they were clad in armor-skins.

“Damn it,” I hissed, then whispered, “Ghost, help!”

Before he could reply, Perceval took action. The bot quickly sped toward the permaglass entrance and the Enforcers walking up to it. “Your Highness, leave this to me. Regina, please attend to her Highness.”

As Perceval raced off, the lights in the foyer quickly turned off and the place was cast in darkness.

Renew smoothly slipped on a pair of sunglasses – probably equipped with some night-vision capability – but Mirai’s eyes adjusted in a heartbeat, thus I could see quite clearly because there was sufficient light spilling into the foyer from outside streetlights.

While this was happening, a section of the wall behind the concierge’s desk parted open and a second security bot resembling an upside-down, electric shaver floated out from a concealed alcove.

At sight of it, Renew unhappily clicked her tongue. “There are more of them?”

I studied the bot approaching us. “So this is Regina….”

Like most of the students at the dorm, I’d heard about her—I mean it—but I’d never seen it before. In fact, few students had spoken to Regina in person, and only on rare occasions when it ventured out into the foyer. But I had heard rumors that it wandered the hallways at night like a ghost, scaring the bejesus out of students breaking curfew inside the building. The bot looked identical to Perceval. However, Regina floated upright like someone walking with their back straight, whereas Perceval leaned forward when it moved as though battling a headwind.

There were two other notable differences.

The first was that Perceval had black trimmings, while Regina’s trimmings were red.

The second difference was that Regina spoke with a demure feminine voice.

Stopping a respectful distance away, Regina gave me a shallow bow, then asked, “How may I assist you?”

I was a little flummoxed by it and spent a few moments wondering how I should respond.

However, Renew was quicker on the uptake. “We need to go to room 35 dash 16. And we’re in a hurry.”

She was right.

The Enforcers were almost at the entrance to the building.

Having the lights off inside the foyer wasn’t going to hide us from the Enforcers if they used night-vision to peer into the darkness.

“As you wish,” Regina replied, then swiftly darted toward the elevator.

Renew exhaled in a rush as though relieved, then chased after the speeding Regina. “What are you waiting for, your Highness?”

I bit back a snide remark as I followed her at a run.

At the elevator bank, there was a lift car waiting for us.

I suspected that Perceval had summoned it earlier before he hurried off to intercept the Enforcers at the entrance.

Regina politely ushered us into the lift before following us inside.

Within moments the doors had closed, and the elevator flew at high speed on maglev rails to the thirty-fifth floor. The lift car was designed to carry up to twenty occupants so there was an abundance of room with just the three of us aboard. Nonetheless, Renew and I kept our distance from each other, but Regina had positioned itself in front of the elevator’s touchscreen control panel.

I was puzzled by its decision to do so.

Regina could operate the elevator wirelessly, so why choose to stand in front of the control panel?

Was it a quirk of its programming?

Whatever the reason, I was grateful that it wasn’t chatty. But in the silence filling the elevator car, my thoughts circled back to Perceval’s personality switch, and once again I studied my right hand. Renew noticed me doing so, and the slight twitch of her eyebrows was like a warning telling me not to touch Regina. I deliberately shoved my hand into a pant pocket and that seemed to satisfy her, but Renew then gave the silent, floating Regina a wary look.

As for me, I wondered how Perceval was coping with the Enforcers who were responding to a call that the bot had no memory of having made.

I decided to classify that under, NOT MY PROBLEM.

 

– II –

 

When the lift stopped at the thirty-fifth floor, its doors opened, and Regina dutifully led us out into a wide hallway.

The place was outlaid with low pile carpeting underfoot and the walls were painted in Navajo white. It was dimly lit, but the ceiling lights brightened to follow us as we walked down the hallway, then darkened behind us. That made me slightly nervous because I felt like we were walking under a spotlight, and when I glanced back at Renew, I saw that she was still wearing her dark sunglasses as she attentively watched our surroundings.

The residential complex had an enormous footprint, so we walked in silence for a fair distance before arriving at my old dormitory room.

35 dash 16.

It may be a cliché to say this, but it felt like a lifetime since I’d looked upon those numbers.

However, what truly raked my heart was knowing that it was a life stolen from me.

Seeing the door and knowing that my old apartment was on the other side, my emotions began to bubble and froth inside my chest.

I couldn’t stop myself from shivering and forcefully shoved my left hand into my pant pocket.

All the while, I could see Renew in the corner of my eye, watching me with an immutable expression, and I was now certain that she knew exactly who and what I was. After all, she had chased me down the side of a four hundred storey building, and then onto a speeding maglev. Yet while she continued to act like a personal bodyguard, I maintained the pretense of being a rebellious teenage princess.

Actually, it was half a pretense – I was a rebellious teenager, but not a princess.

Regina floated beside the door and she stared at me with her six camera eyes. “This is room 35 dash 16. Do you wish to enter?”

My throat had grown dry and tight, and the bubbling cauldron of emotions in my chest was putting pressure on my lungs. Feeling like my heart was being squeezed, I also feared my voice would fail me, so I raised a hand to ask Regina to give me a moment, then hastily swallowed twice to loosen up my throat.

The bot waited patiently for me, but not Renew.

No doubt she was aware of the struggle playing out within me – a conflict I simply couldn’t hide from her studious gaze – so she took the opportunity to ask Regina, “Is the room unoccupied?”

My breath caught and my awareness seemed to hang in the air as I waited for the bot’s answer.

Regina aimed her camera eyes at Renew. “Yes. The occupant of this room has not returned to it since departing at 8:20 am on Monday, February 10^th, 2273 AD.”

So the room was empty.

I felt an odd sense of relief and a some of the pressure inside me bled away, thereby making it easier for me to breath. But my emotions continued to froth and slosh about, and they threatened to spill when Renew jerked her chin at the door and instructed Regina to open it.

The bot appeared to hesitate for a fraction of second before moving to obey.

“Wait,” I snapped at it, stopping it with a hastily raised hand. “Please, wait.” I faced Renew. “You can go now.”

I could feel her impassive gaze scrutinizing me from behind her sunglasses, and after a second or two, Renew calmly asked, “Are you planning to stay here for a while?”

After swallowing heavily, I nodded back at her. “Yes, I am.”

“Then I need to check that it’s secure.”

I slowly shook my head at her. “No, you don’t.”

“My orders specifically state—”

I stepped up to Renew. Sunglasses not withstanding, I could still see her eyes and I stared hard into them.

“No…you don’t.” All of a sudden, I wasn’t feeling uncertain or nervous anymore. I was feeling trespassed and infringed upon. And fairly pissed off. “You’ve done enough already, and this is where I draw the line. You can go.”

That was met with silence from Renew, until she nodded curtly a moment later. “Very well.”

I wasn’t surprised that she’d back down so easily.

Renew had been expressing a detached indifference toward me since our first proper face-to-face encounter. Yet, I suspected she didn’t argue with me because she had other means of surveilling the apartment. She probably knew all along that the place was unoccupied. The only real surprise had come from her antagonism toward Perceval, but as I’d said before, Perceval rubbed everybody the wrong way.

Renew looked down at the floating Regina. “You don’t mind if I leave out the back door?”

The bot looked up at her. “The westside exit is presently locked.”

Renew nodded as if taking the news in stride. “Can you open it for me?”

“I can.”

“Then lead the way.”

However, rather than heading off, Regina rotated toward me and then asked, “Do you wish to enter the room?”

“Yes, I do. But”—I pointedly glanced down the hallway—“you don’t have to wait for me.”

Unexpectedly, Regina demonstrated a very humanlike reluctance to leave, and appeared to glance up at Renew before once again speaking to me. “The passkey—”

“I know what the passkey is,” I told it, then gently added, “I’ll be fine here. Thank you for your help, Regina.”

Again, the bot displayed an unwillingness to leave, but moments later it gracefully offered me a rigid bow. “As you wish.” Regina then turned to Renew. “This way please.”

The bot began floating down the hallway in the direction we’d come from.

As Renew started to follow it, I called out to her.

There was something I just had to ask her before she left.

“How did you know I was coming to this room?”

Renew stopped, then half turned to regard me with inscrutable eyes that I could faintly see behind those damned sunglasses of her. “Doctor Kassius explained that you might be coming here.”

“Did she say why?”

Renew casually shook her head. “No, she did not. And I didn’t ask.”

I bit the inside of my mouth to stop my cheek from twitching angrily.

Yeah, because you didn’t need to. You’ve known about me all along. This is like a charade to you.

Renew waited for a second before inquiring, “Is that all?”

She didn’t sound impatient to leave. In fact, I didn’t know what she was feeling. The waves of her lifeforce aura were calm and regular, its radiance reminding me of a warm sunrise or sunset. The only time her aura had changed markedly was when she’d been sparring with Perceval. But toward me, Renew felt nothing.

She really doesn’t care what I am, does she…?

I can’t say it didn’t bother me, because it did. And yet, I couldn’t explain why. All I knew was that for some reason my contempt for this young woman had jumped a notch.

“Is that all?” Renew asked.

I felt like snorting at her in reply, but instead I exhaled quietly before giving her a blunt nod. “Yeah, that’s all….”

Unwillingly, my words hung in the air. Maybe they gave Renew the impression that I was leaving things unsaid, and perhaps that’s why she hung back for a moment, as though giving me an opportunity to say more. Perchance, she was baiting me to say what was really on my mind – to express my dislike for her.

However, I held my tongue, and dismissed her with a silent stare.

After nodding curtly, Renew pivoted on her heels, and then followed after Regina who had stopped to wait for her.

I watched the two of them travel down the hallway.

It wasn’t until they’d rounded a corner and disappeared from sight that I relaxed a little, feeling as though a weight had come off my shoulders.

But that didn’t last long.

Standing in front of my old dorm room, the full burden of coming here crashed down on me – staggering me – and in the quiet stillness of the hallway, my heart and breathing sounded unnaturally loud in my ears.

“Princess, are you not going inside?”

My gaze fell on the touchscreen panel beside the door jamb. “Just give me a sec….”

However, it took me longer than a second to gather my resolve and enter the passkey into the panel.

There was a soft click as the door unlocked.

After taking a couple of trembling breaths, I reached out with an unsteady hand and then pushed the door open.

Stepping into the room’s familiar hallway, I quietly closed the door behind me.

The lights didn’t come on and I stood in quiet darkness with my back to the door. Yet there was enough city light filtering in through the curtains drawn across the apartment’s window wall that I could see the contours of the hallway and the living area.

Greeted by silence, I spent a long while taking slow, patchy breaths as my body shivered every now and then.

I was finally here and yet I wasn’t able to step away from the doorway.

And then Ghost made it even harder for me to venture forward by saying, “Welcome back, Princess.”

My heart thumped painfully in response.

Seconds went by before I replied in a faint whisper, “…yeah…I’m back….”

Then my throat grew tight and no amount of saliva or swallowing could loosen it.

A ragged breath escaped me, and my legs turned rubbery.

I almost sank to the floor but remained on my feet by bracing my back against the door behind me.

Closing my eyes for a long, long while, I slowly calmed my breathing and listened to my heartbeat gently ease down. When my body no longer trembled, and my legs felt stronger, I straightened my posture, opened my eyes, and then gently pushed away from the door.

“Yeah, I’m back,” I repeated softly as I took my first steps down the five-meter hallway.

The lights failed to respond to my presence when I stopped at the entrance to the rectangular living area. I gazed over the dark shapes occupying the interior, knowing what they were by heart.

“Monitor, lights on,” I requested, but there was no response and the apartment remained dark, prompting me to ask, “Ghost, is the Monitor disabled?”

There was a lengthy delay before he replied, “Apparently so.”

“Why?”

“Uncertain. There is no record explaining why but the system has definitely been deactivated. Do you wish for me to look into the reason?”

I mulled the offer for a second. “No, but can you turn it back on?”

“Certainly, Princess. Shall I do so?”

I hesitated while thinking it over, then gently shook my head. “No…leave it off.”

“As you wish, Princess.”

Walking over to the silhouette of the bedside table, I activated the lamp sitting on it with a gentle tap. It radiated a soft amber light that spread throughout the living area, and I slowly, carefully surveyed the room.

The bedsheets had been changed, and the bed remade by the automated cleaning service that employed the bots shaped like bowling pins. No doubt the carpet had been vacuumed as well. The air smelt clean, with a scent of lilac coming from an aerosol dispenser sitting on a shelf beside the flat holovid projection screen that dominated one wall of the apartment.

The contents of my shelves and bookcases were unmoved from where I remembered them.

I walked up to a shelf, and then ran my fingers over my collection of Mercy Haddaway photo albums. Although I had her assorted holovid and digital releases, I’d purchased her printed material as well.

Pulling out an album, I leafed through it as I returned to my bed. Sitting down on the edge, I continued paging through the big book. Every photo that I looked at reminded me of how closely Mirai resembled Mercy. When I reached the end of the album, I gently closed the book, and placed it reverently beside me on the bed, then once again gazed about the interior of the apartment.

Now that I was here, I wondered if I would have come back here if not out of necessity. It had been difficult for me to step away from the door because the place was of monumental significance to me, but had circumstance been different would I have made the trip here of my own will?

With a soft, lengthy sigh, I fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

I felt a growing lethargy mire my thoughts and weigh down my limbs.

The past couple of days had been nightmare for me – a storm of events that had tossed me like flotsam on a raging sea. The peace I was experiencing now was like having drifted into the eye of that storm, but I was mentally weary and emotionally exhausted.

I was also a little hungry, yet, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it because on top of being drained, I also felt aimless and distracted by the questions tumbling about inside my head – questions for which I had no answers, or maybe I had the answers and was refusing to acknowledge them.

If not now, would I have ever come back to the apartment?

I swallowed hard as I continued gazing at the ceiling.

Yes…I would have. Eventually, I would have come back here.

The question was…why?

Would it have been to establish a sense of closure on my old life as Ronin Kassius?

Would it have been to cement the decision I made back aboard the Sanreal Crest when I told Ghost that I would live as Isabel and fight as Mirai?

My gaze followed the contours of the embossed patterns decorating the ceiling, losing itself in the flowing lines while my thoughts gradually converged upon one question – was I ready to open up to a new life as Isabel and Mirai?

I’d been told there was no going back to my life as Ronin Kassius, so would I be able to go forward?

“…can I live as a girl….?”

I searched my feelings and found myself uneasy and uncertain, perhaps reflecting what was also an uncertain existence.

“…easier said than done….”

I realized that by whispering aloud I’d invited a comment or two from Ghost.

Astonishingly there was none.

His silence surprised me, and I wondered if he was being unusually considerate toward me, but then I realized I was being unfairly harsh on him.

However, I soon noticed something else.

The tortured feelings that had wracked my body and held me back at the door had all but bled away.

All I felt now was exhaustion.

I was weary all the way down to my bones.

But why was I feeling nothing else?

Now that I was here, shouldn’t I be feeling a profound sense of loss?

I’d read how some people would describe a distinct lack of grief after losing a loved one, so was this what I was experiencing?

Was I unable to grieve for the loss of my old life?

Or maybe I wasn’t ready to do so.

Perhaps my feelings were all bottled up, waiting for the right time – the right moment – to be unleashed.

When that happened, what would it be like – an explosion of pent up fury or a quiet fizzle?

Throwing an arm over my face, I closed my eyes with a heavy sigh.

“Lights off,” I called out to the apartment’s Monitor.

There was no confirmation, and I remembered Ghost telling me the Assisting Intelligence had been disabled. Suppressing a flash of irritation, I crawled over the bed to the lamp on the bedside table, turning it off with a tap, and then rolled over onto my back. Dropping my head onto the pillows, I made myself comfortable as I clasped my hands over my midriff.

In the dark room, I breathed slow and deep while gazing up at the ceiling.

There was enough light for me to trace the swirling, flowing patterns, but I found no solace in them – nothing to ease my mind.

“Ghost…?”

“Yes, Princess.”

After a lengthy pause, I admitted, “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Ghost too was silent for a long while before asking, “What do you mean?”

I gave myself a few moments to organize my troubled thoughts before airing them.

“I thought coming here was the right thing to do. I mean, it’s the best solution I could think of. But…but I also thought I’d feel something. And I did. Don’t get me wrong, I really did feel something when I walked inside.” I paused for a quick breath. “But…it wasn’t what I expected.”

“Was it grief? Was it resentment?” After a delay, Ghost somberly questioned, “Did you feel robbed?”

“Robbed?” I shook my head weakly. “No…I was…I was afraid….”

“Afraid?”

I nodded gently. “Yes, I felt afraid…afraid that I’d been replaced.”

“Replaced?”

“Yeah…by a Simulacrum.”

Ghost answered me with silence that lingered in the air for a long while, until I garnered the courage to continue expressing what I was feeling.

“I was scared that I’d step inside and find myself—that I’d find Ronin Kassius sleeping in my bed. Even after Regina said the room was empty, I couldn’t shake that fear, and I carried it with me into the apartment. I guess that’s also why I had so much trouble making myself open the door.”

Ghost remained silent and I started feeling uneasy.

“Ghost? You there?”

“I am here, Princess.”

I sighed loudly. “Well? Nothing to say?”

“No…not for now, Princess.”

What?

A slow frown spread across my forehead, but Ghost questioned me before I could ask him what he meant. “Princess, how do you feel now?”

My frown deepened as I stared pensively up at the ceiling. “How do I feel?”

“Indeed.”

I breathed in deeply, then expelled it slowly as I examined my feelings. “Right now…right now I feel tired. Dead tired.”

“Physically?”

I shook my head on the pillow. “No. All of me.” Then I scoured deeper into my feelings and realized something that made me chuckle in disbelief and disappointment. “I’m so messed up.”

“Princess, you have been through a great deal in a short amount of time—”

“No, that’s not it,” I countered. “That’s not it at all.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t feel anything, Ghost.”

However, that remark was too vague to rest upon, so I after a breath, I sought to clarify what I meant. “For sure, I’m tired. For sure, I was afraid when I first walked in. But past all that…it’s like I’m dead inside.”

My eyes absently followed the patterns embossed in the ceiling.

“I should be grieving or mourning over what I’ve lost, but I’m not, and that’s just too weird. Too wrong.” After yet another heavy breath, I muttered, “Maybe I’m broken. After everything that’s happened to me, maybe I’m burnt out. Or it could be that I’m done grieving about my past life without knowing it.” I hesitated before whispering, “Maybe, I’ve already started moving on….”

If that was true, and I’d already come terms with losing my life as Ronin Kassius, then perhaps coming here served to make that clear to me. However, it didn’t change the fact that everything about my return was anticlimactic, leading to a belated sense of frustration that gradually grew stronger and eventually induced a restlessness that spread quickly throughout my body.

Trying to shake it off, I rolled onto my side but was quickly irked by the hefty weight of Mirai’s breasts as they shifted beneath the tight sports bra.

Groaning in annoyance, I went back to lying on my back, and then closed my eyes.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before I was irritated by an unpleasant pressure in my nether regions. I clamped down on it with unfamiliar muscles, but that only served to delay the inevitable, so with a loud huff, I swung my legs and feet off the bed and then sat up.

“Lights,” I grumbled then once again remembered the Monitor was off. “Damn it.”

I reached for the bedside lamp but then stopped short of turning it on.

Mirai’s eyes could see well enough in the dark, and I knew the apartment inside out, so I was unlikely to stub a toe in the furniture.

Plus, I was wearing my sneakers.

Exhaling heavily, I rose from the bed, momentarily swaying on my feet before gaining my balance.

“Damn it…,” I complained as I pressed a hand to my lower midriff.

“Princess?”

“I need to pee.”

“Oh. I see. By all means.”

Although I couldn’t see him, it didn’t stop me from scowling at Ghost, as I walked to the bathroom that I was so intimately familiar with. Turning on one of the lights, I blinked once as Mirai’s eyes adjusted, and then stepped up to the throne.

Reaching down to flip up the lowered seat, I grumbled under my breath.

“Ghost, if you—”

I froze with my fingertips hooked under the edge of the plastic seat.

“—peek on me….”

My voice faded away as I stared down at my long slender arm and feminine hand touching the toilet seat.

“…oh God….”

At that moment, I felt as though I’d stepped under a waterfall as I was drenched by the undeniable, inescapable truth of what I was seeing.

All those emotions that I’d believed were bottled or burnt away now flooded through me, and from deep within my chest, a weird, strangled laugh bubbled up, making my body shudder.

But the call of nature was too strong to ignore by now, and so I had no choice but to answer it by hastily dropping the necessary garments and then taking a seat on what was now a Queen’s throne. Yet the laughter that gurgled in my chest and throat wouldn’t stop, even as Mirai went through the natural, human process of emptying her bladder.

It carried on after my tears started to fall, and it ended when sobs began to wrack my body.

I hunched over, with my large breasts pressing into my thighs, and my arms wrapped around my belly. With my long dark hair curtaining my face, I cried softly, desperate to keep the volume down though I knew the soundproof walls would prevent my neighbors from hearing my distress.

I don’t know for how long I cried, but it felt like an hour later when I finally regained a semblance of calm.

However, it was a while longer before I ventured to clean myself up – nervously and hesitantly feeling around a delicate, unfamiliar place. I had my eyes squeezed shut the whole time my trembling fingers felt their way around Mirai’s womanhood, opening them only when I needed to dispose of the biodegradable paper wad.

An equally long while later, I found the strength to stand, pulling up my clothes with unsteady hands and shaking arms.

My sobs threatened to perform an encore, but I clamped down on them, and then shuffled over to the wide washbasin.

Filling it with warm water, I washed my face carefully.

Because my skin felt raw, I patted it rather than scrubbed it dry with a hand towel I pulled from a bathroom rail.

When I found the courage to look at my reflection in the mirror, I saw a girl watching me, her exquisite beauty marred by the hollow expression she wore.

Anyone who saw her would have been convinced she had just lost everything, and they wouldn’t have been far from wrong.

I’d come to my old dorm apartment with the intention of avoiding a conflict.

And I’d come here seeking answers from an unknown party.

But subconsciously, I’d also come here seeking solace and solitude.

In a way, I was looking for a place of refuge, a place that I felt was home, somewhere that made me believe that nothing had changed.

Yet the sole gesture of answering a call of nature had brought me face to face with reality.

And no matter how much I argued with Erina or anyone else – no matter how much I denied it – there was no running away from the truth that Mirai’s body had forced me to acknowledge more profoundly than anything I’d experienced since waking up in this body.

I was a girl now.

Pure and simple.

---

Thank you for getting this far.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The new "The Gun Princess Royale" will hopefully be release on Amazon Kindle as an eBook in 2023.
It all depends on what issues my editor friend finds with the story.

Sincere apologies. I don't know why Chapter 7 ended up under a Chapter 6 listing. And I don't know how I ended up with two Chapter 6's. I'll ask to have this entry removed. Very sorry for the confusion.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

Amidst the political maneuvering, while slowly reconciling his past as Ronin Kassius, Isabel faces a new threat from Tabitha Hexen who reveals her own agenda in wanting to fight Mirai in a Gun Princess Royale battle.

Note: The original 2017 release of the Gun Princess Royale will be removed from Amazon Kindle on 15th of December, 2023 to make way for the new The Gun Princess Royale 2023 release - a new, reimagined/reboot of the series that aims to deliver a far better reading experience and hopefully break new ground.

---

I returned to my bed – no, I returned to Ronin Kassius’s bed – kicked off my sneakers, and then slipped under the covers.

I lay in darkness, and vacantly stared up at the indistinct ceiling.

Was I feeling shell shocked?

I didn’t know if that was the right word for it.

I wondered if I would offend anyone by even thinking of myself in those terms. After all, these days the vast majority of the populace was offended and slighted by every little thing they saw or heard. I found it ludicrous how they were all looking for a reason to pick a fight, or prove they were right and someone else was wrong as though trying to justify their existence.

Thus, I decided that I didn’t care if I offended anyone by describing myself as shell shocked.

I’d survived more hardship in two days than most of those easily offended people experienced in a lifetime.

To Hell with social graces and political correctness.

I had a right to feel this way.

Yes, I was shell shocked and there was no way in Hell I was going to fall asleep.

However, sleep wasn’t my goal.

For the moment, it was simply coping with the start reality of my existence, and by that I meant avoiding a nervous breakdown. Whether or not in future I could come terms with it wasn’t something I’d resolve overnight or just by sleeping on it. Thus, for now I was doing my best to avoid plunging into despair, because I felt that the progress that I’d made toward accepting my new life as Isabel and Mirai had suffered a major setback.

At its worst, I was more or less back to square one, and not knowing if I could move forward again sincerely frightened me.

But was there a way forward?

In other words, even if I wanted to make new progress – and I was certain that I did – was there a path or two for me to choose from?

That gave me food for thought because it next made me consider what my end goal was.

If I wanted to return to life as Ronin Kassius, that put me at odds with what Erina had told me back on the boat. In short, that it wasn’t possible for me to go back, so if I wanted to make peace with my new life as Isabel and Mirai, how would I go about that?

Perhaps, the first new step was to stop worrying about being a girl.

Perhaps, I just needed to gradually grow accustomed to it, and little by little, as time went by, I would settle into Isabel and Mirai’s skin.

With a heavy, shuddering sigh, I kicked back the bedsheets and lay still for a long while, before eventually swinging my legs off the bed. Sitting on the edge, I stared down at my feet for a good minute before I reached over to double-tap the base of the bedside lamp. Warm amber light spread across the room, pushing back much of darkness inside the apartment, and I slowly gazed around the living area while gently biting my lower lip.

If I was going to step away from the brink of despair, I believed I needed something to distract me.

Surprisingly, it was the kitchen that caught my eye.

Standing up, I walked over to its small refrigerator and peered inside.

The service bots had stocked it up again with fresh fruits and drinks. There was even a collection of square meals for me to choose from if I was hungry. But I was thirstier than famished, so I picked out a lemon soda in an emerald green plastic bottle, closed the fridge, then ambled back to the middle of the living area.

Uncapping the bottle, I drank it down slowly as I gave the place another sweeping look.

Everything really was where I remembered leaving it that Monday morning.

It was both reassuring and troubling because it made me feel as though I’d never left.

It threatened to instill me with a false sense of belonging, anchoring me in the past when I’d asserted that I wanted – needed – to look toward the future. But even so, that wasn’t quite right, because I wasn’t looking to a future as a girl out of necessity, but because I presently had no other options.

However, for the time being, I had to do something to take my mind off my situation.

I understood that in a way I was running away from the problem, but I’d already decided it wasn’t something that I could face right now.

What to do? What to do? What. To. Do?

My attention fell on the shelves filled to the brim with Mercy Haddaway material.

In this day and age, there was no need for large storage boxes to hold photronic media, but that didn’t stop companies from selling them in the time honored tradition since the days of Blu-Ray and Q-Ray discs.

Strolling over to one set of shelves, I peered at the spines of the slim cases sitting on the middle shelf, then pulled one out on impulse.

The cover was familiar to me but not the content.

It was a holovid that I’d never managed to watch beyond the first few minutes, but I knew that it featured Mercy returning to her high school in the city-state of Pan Pacifica.

Carefully, reverently, I opened the slim case and retrieved the photronic data-card inside. It was roughly the size of a cash card. Possessing half a petabyte of memory, that was enough for a few hours of holovid and projecbeam material to playback.

Closing the case, I slipped the data-card into the holovid player. While it loaded, I moved the low lying coffee table aside to make room in the middle of the living room, then retrieved the remote from beside the player. Last but not least, I turned off the bedside lamp with a tap, then sat cross-legged on the floor and waited for the holo-album’s menu to appear. When it came up, I selected the projecbeam playback option.

Originally, the dorm room came with a standard, mid-market holovid player. But at the end of last year, I’d spent a sizeable portion of my early allowance to purchase a high-end player with projecbeam capability. Unlike a holovid that required a projection surface behind it, making the images appear as though they were floating in front of the screen rather than on it, a projecbeam was projected into the air. The player I’d purchased could generate a spherical projecbeam. It came with emitter strips that I carefully attached to the walls of the dormitory’s living area. The connecting kitchen had complicated things a little, but I’d followed online advice on how to get the best results out of the room’s layout.

Sitting on the carpeted floor in the middle of the living room, I was quickly enveloped in an ultra high-resolution image bubble that recreated an urban environment.

Even though I was sitting down, my P.O.V. was from a standing position.

I was on a sidewalk outside of a towering school building encircled by a wall some twenty-feet high.

As I looked around me, my surroundings rotated when I turned my head and body as the player read my movements and line-of-sight to adjust the contents projected within the bubble.

The recreation was so detailed and life-like that I could easily suspend my disbelief as I stared at the city street, the moving vehicular traffic, the pedestrians, and Pan Pacifica’s soaring skyline. However, I wasn’t just seeing my surroundings but hearing them as well. The only shortcoming was the lack of smell, and there wasn’t any breeze to feel.

As I grew accustomed to the projected environment, I noticed a luxurious, executive styled passenger van pull up to the sidewalk, then stop within spitting distance of the school’s wide entrance. The passenger door opened by sliding back, and a dark suited gentleman climbed out. He turned to assist a pretty, blonde girl alight from the van.

Wearing a figure hugging, thigh length, lilac summer dress with a ruffled skirt, she had a svelte figure that most women would envy, and she stood on the sidewalk perched on heeled, strappy sandals. Gazing upon her surroundings with a breezy smile, she then appeared to notice me, and her smile grew as her green eyes appeared to meet mine.

Blinded by her beauty, my heart jumped then landed at a run.

My goddess, Mercy Haddaway, was smiling at me.

I’d played a few of the other albums as projecbeams, but my heart could never handle this one for more than a minute, so I always turned off the playback before I suffered a cardiac arrest. However, Mirai was made of sterner stuff, and she was able to weather the brunt of Mercy’s radiance, though I was trembling all over.

I needed a distraction. I guess this is it.

Mercy greeted me with her mellifluous voice, and then bade me to follow her as she ventured into the school through the open gates. They should have been closed since it appeared that classes were in session, but maybe they were opened just for Mercy since she was recording at the school today.

I didn’t need to walk to follow her.

That was convenient because my rubbery legs weren’t going to support me any time soon. Therefore, it was a good thing I was already sitting on the floor.

The projecbeam bubble and the recording made it seem as though I was really accompanying Mercy as she walked into the school grounds on a clear morning. My P.O.V. was like that of a drone floating off her left shoulder, and when I looked over my right shoulder – so to speak – I saw two dark suited gentlemen following a few steps behind us.

After a while my heart began to ease down, and I stopped trembling, allowing me to enjoy the immersive experience.

Mercy was warmly greeted by the school’s principal, a stunning brunette in a business-skirt suit. In a way, the woman made me think of Erina, and that was a bit of downer. However, after hastily pushing the comparison aside, I focused on Mercy and soon forgot about my bitch of a sister – I mean former sister – as Mercy toured the school.

San Marianna Academy was remarkably different to Telos Academy.

Everything from the layout, to the uniforms, to the general ambience. But that was understandable since this was an all girl’s school, and not co-educational.

The building was also much taller than Telos Academy. Because it wasn’t located on an island, the school was stuck somewhere in the city-state, and this had restricted its footprint, so the builders had gone up about a hundred floors. That said, space was always at a premium, so it seemed that only the bottom dozen floors were school facilities, while everything above it was accommodation for the students and staff. In short, much of the building was a giant dormitory.

However, that wasn’t all there was to it.

A level above the school floors had a parkland with a bicycle and jogging track, and a swimming pool that resembled a mini lagoon.

I could only imagine just how heavy that floor was with all the water it had to support.

To be honest, I didn’t see a point to it, other than to promote it as a den – I mean a paradise – for the female students. Of course, Mercy explored the place, and much to my delight she had a swimsuit underneath her summer dress, perfect for a quick dip and photoshoot session in the lagoon pool.

Unfortunately, she was quickly surrounded by girls during their lunch break.

I wanted to kick those ruffians out of the way.

How dare they cloister around my goddess!

Damn them! They were blocking my view of Mercy.

Thankfully, the tour moved on to other parts of the school building, and I calmed down when the female students returned to class. I had jumped to my feet, but was sitting on the floor again as I followed my raison d’etre like an infatuated butterfly or a moth drawn to a flame.

Then disaster struck.

As the tour rolled on, I started to nod off, and sometime later, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, the playback had ended, and the player had entered sleep mode. However, it was the slivers of morning light intruding into the room from around the edges of the drawn curtain that came as a surprise, because that alone told me that I’d been out like a light for a few hours.

I was crestfallen that I’d slept through the remainder of the holo-album.

I’d finally succeeded in watching much more than the first few minutes, yet I’d succumbed to exhaustion. In addition, I was feeling stiff as a goal post because I’d slept while sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Should I tell you that’s not the best way for a girl to sleep?

Straightening my legs, I groaned as Mirai’s muscles complained loudly, then I ungracefully fell flat on my back.

Lying spread-eagled on the living room floor, I stared up at the ceiling.

I didn’t need to look at the clock on the bedside table to know that it was 7:15 AM on Wednesday morning, February 12^th, 2273 AD.

I had Mirai’s wetware to thank for that update.

I wonder if I can use it like a daily planner?

Gazing at the flowery patterns on the ceiling above me, I realized that I’d never given Mirai’s wetware much thought. I knew that it could interface with ‘smart’ weapons, and it allowed Ghost to project himself into my senses, namely my hearing and vision, but what else could I do with it? What other capabilities did the wetware possess? For that matter, what hidden talents did Mirai possess?

Lifting an arm above me, I turned it over slowly as I studied it, while thinking of the Angel Fibers running through Mirai’s body.

Can I do more than sprout wings?

I let my arm flop down over my belly, then pondered what the day held in store for me.

How long before I was paid a visit by the girl on the phone?

And what would come after that?

Once again, I was back to considering the crux of my problem – coming to terms with living as Mirai, as Isabel, and as a girl. For the most part, I’d acknowledged there was no going back to my life as Ronin Kassius, and if Erina produced a male body for me, only a copy of my mind would occupy it. I would still be stuck inside Mirai, while my copy faced the difficult prospect of adjusting to life as a man.

Why?

Because Erina had said there would be consequences to imprinting my neural map onto a male brain after spending so much time stuck inside Mirai’s head, so there was the likelihood that my copy would suffer from gender dysphoria or perhaps other behavioral disorders.

And yet…

I frowned to myself.

…why haven’t I suffered from gender dysphoria already?

Certainly, my experience in the bathroom had felt far worse than a punch in the gut. In different terms, it was an emotional kick to the groin. But after the shock had subsided, why wasn’t I feeling like I was wearing the wrong skin? Why didn’t I feel alien within Mirai’s body?

Was it possible that Erina and her motley crew of mad scientists had somehow tweak my mind?

Had she modified me so that I would be more open to accepting life as a girl?

After all, she must have known I was terrified of turning into a girl. So maybe she, or someone in her team, had discovered a way to help me transition into Mirai’s body.

It was a disturbing possibility that I couldn’t dismiss, and it sent a cold chill running through my bones.

Maybe Erina has prepared me already for life as a girl—

The faint sounds of movement out in the hallway outside the apartment distracted me but failed to surprise me. This was the dormitory complex and there were always students who left early to head to the academy, whether for club practice or other reasons. However, what did take me aback was the fact that I could hear them, something I had never experienced before from inside the apartment due to its supposedly soundproof walls.

Just how far above normal was Mirai’s hearing?

Contemplating the question, I pillowed my head on my arms, and then quietly lay back to listen to my surroundings.

I could hear faint humming on various frequencies, and the sounds of a handful or more students traveling down the hallway, including the drone of their conversations. Beneath that, Mirai’s ears could perceive indistinct activity in the adjoining apartments. However, as I was focused on the sounds around me, I noticed someone had walked up to my apartment’s door, and they stood there for a short while before ringing the bell.

A soft sing-song chime consisting of seven notes played in the air.

My immediate reaction was to lay still on the floor and hold my breath, and I was still playing possum when I heard the melody play for a second time.

Slowly, I turned my head to look at the apartment’s door at the end of the hallway.

There was a short period of silence before the melody sounded in the air again.

And that makes three.

“Princess?”

It was the first time Ghost had spoken to me for a few hours, since I sincerely doubted that he’d been whispering sweet nothings to me in my sleep, and hearing his voice shook me into action.

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered. “She’s here.”

But what if it wasn’t the girl I’d spoken to on the phone?

What if it was someone else?

I gave the possibility some hasty but serious thought.

I crossed Mat off the list since he was currently under observation – according to Erina.

Then there was Shirohime. I crossed her off even quicker.

Angela and Felicia were two suspects I considered but dismissed when I factored their recent deaths. I doubted they’d been given new Simulacra bodies to move around on such short notice. On the other hand, it could be them in their human bodies at the door. But what reason could they have for coming to see me?

The Cat Princess was the next probable contender for an early morning visit. She would have to gain entry into the complex via the ground floor entrance. That meant facing Perceval who was guarding the building. And yet, since the building was owned by the Telos Corporation, it was likely she would receive permission to do so after pulling a few strings. If that was true, it annoyed me because they could have done the same for me, thereby saving Renew and I a lot of trouble with the staunchly stubborn Perceval.

Last, but not least, was Erina.

Her venturing into the apartment complex at this hour could be explained as a relative visiting a younger family member, though the time of day was odd for such a visit. However, that was only from an outsider’s point-of-view who knew nothing of my unconventional escape from Isabel’s luxury apartment.

Last on my list was Renew, and if it was her outside the door, she had to have a pretty good reason for coming to fetch me now, what with students making their way down the corridors.

Did she dress up like a teacher?

I really couldn’t picture her dressing up as a student.

Regardless, I’d run out of possible suspects.

Wetting my lips, I then swallowed quietly. “Ghost, who’s at the door?”

I asked because I was certain he was accessing the hallway security system to peek outside the apartment.

“Princess, if you are wondering who is at the door, I suggest you answer it.”

His reply was not amusing. On the contrary, it had me frowning apprehensively. “Why aren’t you going to tell me?”

“Because, it would be far easier and more efficient for you to see for yourself.”

I was ready to angrily snap at him when I abruptly realized what he meant. “Ghost, are you saying—?”

“Correct, Princess. It is someone you are indeed acquainted with.”

However, that posed a conundrum because I had exhausted the short list of contenders that came to mind.

So who did I leave out? Who was I forgetting?

Whoever it was, they were getting impatient and the chime was now ringing almost continuously.

With a groan and a growl, I climbed up to my feet, then padded barefoot toward the apartment’s entrance. However, I stopped when I passed by the open bathroom doorway and glimpsed Mirai’s reflection in the shower stall’s glass enclosure.

What the—?

Quickly plunging into the bathroom, I stared aghast at my appearance in the cabinet mirror mounted above the washbasin.

Mirai’s hair was raven dark and her eyes were wine red.

In a way, I was relieved to know that she was powered up, and on her guard, but it also made me anxious about the present situation. However, the door chime kept on ringing, and despite my apartment being touted as soundproof, I couldn’t risk drawing complaints from my neighbors.

After took a long, deep breath that I exhaled uneasily, I hurried out of the bathroom.

Arriving at the door, I tapped the console plate beside it.

A holovid window the size of an A4 sheet of paper materialized a few centimeters away from the surface of the door. It floated at eye-level, and like a real window, it offered a view of the corridor immediately outside my apartment.

For a short while I stared in silence at the face of the person standing out in the corridor.

It was a face that roused mixed feelings with a dash of danger and despair.

Why? Because in many respects, that individual was the Harbinger of Bad News, and they dragged trouble along behind them. That’s why I was reluctant to open the door, despite the ongoing cacophony of the chime ringing for the umpteenth time.

Ghost gently nudged me with a word. “Princess?”

Knowing there was no avoiding this encounter, I took a deep, shuddering breath while glaring reproachfully at the face in the holovid window. But it took another lungful of air for me to gather sufficient resolve to open the door.

However, it wouldn’t open. The handle simply wouldn’t turn.

Looking down at the console plate, I saw the red light indicating the door was locked.

Damn it. It must have locked behind me when I came in.

Unlocking it by entering the passkey into the console, I hesitated as a wave of doubts and misgivings washed over me, then I turned the handle and opened the door.

Standing in the corridor, a girl with long dark hair greeted me with a languid smile. “It’s about time. I was beginning to think you were ignoring me.”

I was immediately aware of two things.

One. She hadn’t changed since the last time I saw her.

Two. She wasn’t human – there was no lifeforce aura radiating from her body.

In short, she was a machine avatar.

That realization alone made my stomach clench into a tight, nervous little ball.

If push comes to shove, can I beat her?

Once again, I sorely missed not being dressed in Mirai’s Princess Regalia.

The girl at the door cocked her head at me, and mockingly asked, “You’re not going to invite me in?”

I brushed her question aside with one of mine. “What are you doing here?”

The machine with the appearance of a pretty teenage girl of average height and bust size held up a canvas gym bag for me to see.

“I come bearing gifts,” she said.

Or rather it said.

I glanced anxiously at the bag before staring into her lifelike eyes. “I’m going to ask one more time. Why are you here?”

The girl lowered the bag. “You invited me here. Remember?”

Her reply confirmed what I’d been afraid of.

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit! Why her of all people? Why her?

For that matter, how the Hell could I have forgotten about her?

The girl looked both ways down the corridor, then turned to her right, but not before I heard someone walking toward us. She then eyed me sidelong and smiled coyly. “A girl in a boy’s room is a no-no.”

“I couldn’t agree more, so leave.”

I started closing the door on her, but she stuck her foot in the doorway. She then used a free hand to force the door open wider until I pushed it against her, bringing her efforts to a stop.

It was possible we were evenly matched, or perhaps she was going easy on me. Either way, I was able to stop her from stepping into the apartment.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“You’re being boring and predictable,” she replied with disinterest that I found increasingly annoying.

“Then leave,” I retorted while keeping her at bay.

“It’s rude to turn a guest away at the door.”

The sound of footsteps walking closer grew louder.

The girl glanced off to her right, then unexpectedly leaned forward on tip-toes as though delivering me a kiss.

“Oh darling, won’t you let me in?” she asked through puckered lips.

I jerked back in shock but kept a firm grip on the door.

But from down the corridor, a young male voice muttered, “Oh great. Another chick on this floor. It’s like you’re coming out of the goddam walls.”

The mechanical girl winked at him and flashed him a victory gesture. “Oh, poor lonely boy,” she quipped. “Get a girlfriend.”

True to her nature, she was turning a bad situation worse.

Ah—damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Yanking the door open, I reached out and pulled the girl into the apartment before quickly closing the door behind her. Then I shoved her against a hallway wall and used both my weight and strength to pin her there.

She giggled but it didn’t suit the dull look on her face. “Isn’t this a little rough for foreplay.”

Ignoring the remark, I searched her face with a glare, eventually growling at her in frustration.

“Which one are you?” I demanded to know.

“The wicked witch of the west,” she replied with a weary smile.

I gave her a hard push that splintered the plaster behind her. “Tabitha.”

“In the flesh,” she added.

I backed away a couple of feet. “Or is it, Taura Hexaria?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Tabitha Hexen will do fine.”

Snorting scornfully at her, I shook my head at her unwelcome presence. “So it was you.”

Tabitha blinked innocently at me, then pushed herself away from the wall.

“Hey,” I warned her as she drunkenly slipped past me toward the living area, “where do you think you’re going?”

Swaying to a stop at the end of the hallway, Tabitha sleepily peered into the room.

She seemed to be taking in my vast collection of Mercy Haddaway merchandise occupying most of the shelving.

“Oh, I like what you’ve done with the place,” she opinioned with a drowsy look on her face.

However, she suddenly dropped the gym bag to the floor, then tip-toed nimbly into the middle of the living room as though threading her way through a minefield. Then slowly spinning with her arms wide, Tabitha threw back her head in rapture.

“It’s the Temple of Mercy.”

I glared at her as she spun around again and again.

She was dishing on my place of worship.

I sorely felt like knocking her out with a right hook to her metal chin, but since she was a mechanical, I doubted that would make a difference to her.

Damn, I miss my Regalia!

Tapping into the resentment I felt for Tabitha, I picked up the gym bag, then tossed it at her.

It smacked her chest, but she caught it before it fell to the floor, and then gave me a wounded look. “Someone didn’t sleep well.”

I stepped into the living room with arms folded rigidly under Mirai’s bosom. “Was it you? Did you call me?”

She walked over to the bed and then dropped the bag onto it. For a long moment she stood motionless, before turning to face me. “I’m a member of the Battle Commission’s Libra Division.”

I exhaled raggedly. “That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Tabitha shrugged as she began wandering lazily around the room. “Libra watches through the eyes of the watchers.”

I was having trouble making sense of her. “Are you going to give me a straight answer?”

“My job is to observe you.”

“What?” I frowned openly at her.

“The moment the Sanreal Crest docked at the marina, Libra’s Conquistador Class Awareness started watching you. It tracked your flight from the marina to the city, and it watched your mad dash down the residential complex.”

“Why?”

“That’s a silly question that has two answers.”

I gave her a shallow nod. “I’m listening.”

Tabitha held up a finger.

“The first answer is that Libra watches the people of interest to the Gun Princess Royale. And you are high on that list.”

Tabitha held up a second finger.

“The second answer is that the Empress has taken an interest in you. Though the Battle Commission is mostly independent of the Imperial Family’s influence, the second Primary of the Feylan Family has graciously granted Libra additional authority and resources to act in her name.”

I was confused. “The second Primary? Who is that?”

“The Empress’s younger sister, her Imperial Highness, Korinthia Feylan Aventisse.”

I blinked slowly while digesting this. “The Empress has a sister?”

“Well, duh,” Tabitha replied.

I scowled at her. Is she implying that I’m stupid? “Why are they just watching me? Why don’t they just kidnap me? Wouldn’t that be easier for the Empress?”

Tabitha wagged a finger at me. “Because your sister told the Empress that any attempt to do so would result in your death.”

I frigid wind blew through me. “What…?”

“I meant to say your destruction.”

Another frigid gust rushed through me, constricting my lungs, and robbing me of my voice.

Ghost chose the next moment to materialize in my vision.

Standing off to my left, he watched Tabitha with a penetrating gaze, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, only that he was blatantly suspicious of the girl.

Is he doing that for my benefit? Why?

Suppressing a shiver, I swallowed hard before whispering, “Ghost?”

“This is news to me,” he replied in a low, tense voice, his eyes on Tabitha the whole time.

“Don’t lie to me,” I hissed under my breath and out the side of my mouth.

“Princess, I am upholding my promise to you,” he answered without relaxing his expression or tone.

Unaware of Ghost’s attention on her, Tabitha studied me for a short while before holding her palms up and shrugging apathetically. “Hey, that’s what she said.” Lowering her hands, Tabitha then added, “The Empress decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Without the data on your body, there was no way to tell if Erina Kassius was lying, although you were scanned during the translocation process between islands.”

Crossing my arms, I hid my cold unease by glaring icily at Tabitha. “And? What did you find?”

Tabitha snorted as she tossed her hands into the air. “Nothing. No bomb. No capsules. Just the wetware in your head that we couldn’t scan at all.” She then noticed a life-sized poster of Mercy I had up on a wall. “But it was downright shocking to discover Remnant tech embedded inside your head.”

I watched her step up to the poster for a better look. “Why is that such a big deal?”

“Because sticking Remnant wetware inside a human or Simulacrum body has always failed before.” Tabitha threw me a glance. “Always.”

I arched my eyebrows at her. “So that makes me special?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Tabitha listlessly pouted at the image of Mercy on the wall. “Such big boobs….” Abruptly she directed that pout at me. “Speaking of boobs. I noticed you have quite the fulsome rack.”

My eyes widened before I retorted while glaring, “Does that really matter now?”

“Hmm. I wonder which of you is bigger?” Tabitha mused softly, alternating her attention between Mercy’s poster and I. Yet I suspected she already had her answer. After all, she’d revealed that Mirai’s body had been scanned during the translocation between the Proving Grounds and the second continent.

No doubt, she had my three sizes down to the nanometer, but what else did she know about me?

By scanning me, did they know how to make another Mirai?

No, that seemed unlikely.

Clenching my hands, I growled at her. “Like I said, does it matter?”

“Of course, it does,” Tabitha replied with surprising honesty that was unfairly undermined by her sleepy voice. “Do you think you’re going to participate in the Gun Princess Royale solely as a competitor?” She shook her head and smiled weakly as though pitying me. “You have no idea what your sponsor has planned for you.”

I froze as a variety of dreadful possibilities paraded before my eyes.

A bikini photoshoot was one of them.

That was made all the more embarrassing since Mirai closely resembled my goddess, Mercy.

In fact, I suspected I was going to be mistaken for her quite often in the days to come, and the thought made me blush hotly.

Feeling the blood rush to my face, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Get a grip! She’s trying to unhinge you!

Opening my eyes, I furiously rubbed a palm over my face as I labored to regain control over my emotions. “Can you just tell me what’s going on?”

Tabitha pointed at the poster. “Can I have this one?”

“No,” I snapped, irritated by how she kept making the conversation jump about.

“By the way, have you thought about dressing up like her?”

“Huh?”

At first I was perplexed at the prospect, then promptly horrified.

Me? Dress up as my Goddess?

How could she even suggest such a thing? It bordered on sacrilege. But what popped into my head next was the fear of a bikini photoshoot, and once again I was blushing hotly all over.

“No, no, no.” I held up a hand in protest. “No, I haven’t. I have not!”

Tabitha grinned like the Cheshire Cat. A very sleepy looking Cheshire Cat. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

“Aggh.” I palmed my face furiously for a second time.

Keep it together. Keep it TOGETHER!

Lowering my hand away from my face, I took a couple of noisy breaths, then stepped closer to Tabitha. “Can we stay focused? Please!”

“Poster.” She pointed at it. “Gimme.”

“Get your own!” I yelled at her.

“Really? Where?”

Taking some time to calm down, I considered the question and remembered how I’d acquired that poster. “Ah…actually…that one was limited to the first hundred attendees at Mercy’s handshaking event last year. So you’d have to try the online auctions.”

That event was what started my nightmare as Princess Silver Blue. Succumbing to temptation, I had accepted the Cosplay Club’s terms in exchange for a ticket to meet Mercy at a handshaking event.

Ah, but that’s a story already told.

Tabitha mimicked a dirty old man. “How much for the poster? I want to buy the poster.”

I recoiled from her. “Cut that out. You’re sounding like a real creeper.”

She held up a finger. “The price of knowledge is one precious article from your collection.” Then she pointed again at the poster.

“Forget it,” I dismissed the offer immediately.

There was no way in Hell would I agree to those terms.

Tabitha folded her hands behind her back and regarded me with disappointment. “So you really don’t want to know?”

“The price is too high.”

Hell, it was astronomical in my book.

Besides, I could always ask Ghost to investigate for me.

However, my certainty was chipped away by doubts when I noticed him looking distinctly troubled.

Ghost, you’re not inspiring me with confidence!

As though feeling the weight of that glance, he cautiously suggested, “Princess, perhaps you should make the trade.”

I barely succeeded hiding my shock and confusion.

Does that mean there’s something he doesn’t know?

I remembered him mentioning the ICE surrounding information related to Mirai.

Was Tabitha privy to something in there?

I mentally scratched my head.

Wait a minute—what the Hell was the question again?

I turned my attention on the mechanical girl. “Why do you want something from my collection?”

“To sell it and make money,” she replied easily.

I was flabbergasted. “What?”

“Limited edition posters of Mercy go for a steep price.”

I felt my blood threaten to boil. “I’m not selling my Mercy poster.” Stabbing a finger at her, I came close to yelling. “I even had it framed. That cost me money. So forget it. No way. No gods damn way.”

Tabitha frowned at me. “Why are you so obsessed with this girl?”

“Because she’s a goddess!”

“I think you have your definition of a goddess messed up.”

I crossed my arms unhappily. “Look. I’m not giving you my poster. That’s final.”

“I’ll tell you about your sister, Erina Kassius.”

It was a bad move to bring up my sister at this point and time. “She’s not my sister.”

Tabitha hummed for a moment. “Technically, she may be your future sister-in-law.”

Hearing that made my chest tighten such that I struggled to breathe, but it didn’t stop me from rejecting her bluntly. “Not interested.”

“Do you want to know a secret?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Not if there’s a price involved.”

“Your sister told the Empress about you.”

In a flash, every thought inside my head made for the hills, leaving only Tabitha’s words in their wake, and for a long, long while, I stared blankly at her, too dumbfounded to move or think.

As for Ghost, I could see him in the corner of my eye standing stock still with a bamboozled look on his face.

Of course, Tabitha couldn’t see Ghost, but she could see me and there was a subtle smile playing on her lips as she studied my reaction. But true to her nature, she soon gave me an insouciant shrug and studied Mercy’s poster as though she could divine the secrets of the universe from it.

The need to swallow and avoid choking started the wheels turning again inside my head. After a handful of ragged breaths, and a glance at Ghost who’d grown pensive, I decided to break my silence. However, I had to clear my throat a handful times before I was confident my voice would hold up

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?”

Tabitha didn’t answer me right away, but instead continued eyeing the poster with an unsettling intensity, before eventually asking, “Does that mean you’re interested?”

My emotions began to stir anew into a troubled, somewhat anguished brew.

When I took a very deep breath that ended up straining my lungs, and then released it slowly, Mirai’s body shuddered as though wracked by a frigid cold, forcing me to tighten my crossed arms under her bosom, while staring hard at Tabitha. “Why would Erina tell the Empress about me? Why betray the trust House Novis has in her?”

“Because your sister learnt the truth.”

“About what?”

Tabitha began to trudge slowly around the living room. “You paid Clarisol a visit in that prison for her mind, right?”

Surprise stole my breath while Ghost jerked sharply.

Tabitha continued meandering wearily, and slowly circled the low coffee table I’d moved aside hours ago.

I shook myself out of my torpor while facing her, but then I felt a familiar heat welling up inside me. “How do you know that? Who are you?”

Tabitha spread her arms wide, mimicking a bird circling around the table. “I am the ghost of Christmas past.”

I unfolded my arms. “That’s not funny.”

“I am the ghost of Christmas future.”

“Answer the damn question!”

Tabitha continued flying around the table. “Do you know that Clarisol lied?”

“About what?”

“About me.” She threw me a glance but didn’t stop. “The reason they didn’t know who I was had nothing to do with searching through the wrong years.”

I was confused and didn’t bother hiding it. “What are you talking about?”

“I crashed their simulation—the Zombie Apocalypse that Ronin Kassius fought through. Remember?”

I leaned back a few inches. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Clarisol said they tried to find out who I was but failed.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, she did say that…back in the school’s library.”

“She lied.”

I was starting to see what she was alluding to. “You mean, she lied about not searching the databases far back enough.”

Tabitha winked at me. “Yup.”

“Then…she knew who you were?”

“Nope. She didn’t have a clue, and neither did the Sanreals.”

I frowned slightly. “Then…Taura Hexaria—the Gun Empress—doesn’t exist?”

“Oh, she exists. She’s real. She’s me. She just doesn’t look anything like me.”

My gaze repeatedly searched Tabitha’s face. “Why is that?”

“Because this way, I can move about freely as whomever I want be.”

I gasped softly as I realized that Tabitha used mechanical bodies that could look like anyone…or no one at all.

She cocked her head at me. “Clarisol and the Sanreals searched the databases but could find no record of anyone matching my appearance. Therefore, they assumed that Tabitha Hexen was either a Simulacrum or a mechanical avatar, in which case, Clarisol probably had a hunch it was me. But that’s all she had. A hunch. A gut feeling. Her woman’s intuition.”

“You’re saying Clarisol wasn’t telling the whole truth.”

“That’s right.”

I flicked a glance at Ghost who also nodded ever so faintly. Yet I saw the suspicion in his eyes.

Does Ghost know who Tabitha or Taura Hexaria really is?

I kept that in mind when I asked Tabitha, “So who are you? Who are you really?”

“I am an observer attached to the Battle Commissions’ Libra Division. It’s my job to watch over the matches involving Mirai. This is on the Empress’s express orders. Well, actually, the directive comes from her Imperial Highness, the First Princess, Korinthia Feylan Aventisse.”

I hesitated before cautiously asking, “Did you say…the First Princess?”

“I did.”

Biting my lower lip, I recalled my first verbal exchange with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica. “I have a question.”

“By all means.”

“Out in the desert, Kristeva said she was the first Imperial Princess. And she called herself—ah, what was it”—I struggled to recall the name—“she called herself Kristeva Annelise Aventisse, first in line to the throne. Was that true?”

“She lied.”

Tabitha’s brusque reply surprised me.

The mechanical girl continued after a brief pause. “Kristeva is indeed an Imperial Princess. However, in the Erzvallen Empire, she is not considered the First Princess. That title belongs to her mother, despite being the Empress. And her aunt, Korinthia, is referred to as the Second Imperial Princess.”

“So she’s not the First Princess?” I openly frowned. “Then why did she—?”

“Because she is a consummate liar,” Tabitha explained in a cutting tone. “It’s the way she is. Or rather, one could say that she has a difference of opinion regarding the rules of succession. In your universe, it is the first born who succeeds the throne. In mine, it is the Emperor or Empress’s siblings who succeed their reign. This means that leadership of the Empire does not progress down the family tree as quickly as it does in your history. It also means that Korinthia is next in line to take over the Empire, not the Empress’s eldest daughter.”

I was puzzled, but in my peripheral vision, which was remarkably acute, I saw Ghost throw me a slow nod.

If Ghost agrees then Tabitha must be telling the truth.

Nonetheless, I was still confused by what I was hearing from her.

“And there is one more thing,” Tabitha said. “Her name is Kristeva Feylan Aventisse. It is not Annelise.”

I wondered why that was important. “So what?”

“It is the name of Clarisol’s mother.”

My eyes quickly widened, expressing my disbelief, then slowly narrowed as I remembered what I’d heard back in the cave.

She’s right. Ghost did say that Clarisol’s mother was called Annelise.

I’d failed to connect the dots that Tabitha was now joining for me, leading me to ask, “She lied about her name? Why?”

Tabitha looked distinctly aggrieved. “As I said before, Kristeva is a consummate liar—short and simple. Anything that comes out of her mouth, should be taken with a kilo of salt.”

I swallowed nervously before asking, “Then why didn’t you say something back at the library?”

“Because I left it to Clarisol. She should have corrected Kristeva when she first called herself Annelise, and yet Clarisol didn’t.” Tabitha raised her head high, and for the first time, I sensed real anger in the girl. “It doesn’t matter if she’s a Princess, Kristeva had no right to use that name. She crossed the line back then.”

I didn’t know why the usually languid and Jester-like Tabitha was visibly ticked off. To be honest, it was the most irate I’d ever seen her, but it got me thinking along a tangential train of thought.

Knowing what I did now, what if Kristeva had assumed the name Annelise to light a fire under Clarisol? At the time, I knew little of Clarisol’s family history, the death of her mother, or why House Novis had been demoted in the Imperial Court. Perhaps, Clarisol had been forced to stay silent lest she betray too much information about what was happening. Maybe she was trying to keep things simple for me so that I could focus on the task of surviving.

Could it be, that Clarisol wasn’t nearly as crazy as I’d thought.

If that was true, then perhaps there had been method to her madness. When she almost blew us all up with that bomb she left behind in the school’s administration building, it wasn’t out of desperation or lunacy. Instead, she may have been helping me while taking her revenge on Kristeva for falsely appropriating her mother’s name. The one contradictory note to my reasoning was that she almost ended up killing her brother, Mat, and that was why I still believed she was at least a little crazy.

Thinking about it made my brain ache, and with a groan, I clutched at my forehead. “Why is everybody playing these games with me?”

I felt like sitting down, but decided to remain standing.

My gut impression was that if I sat down, I’d somehow project weakness to Tabitha, and the latter would try to capitalize on it. I also acknowledged that in some ways, dealing with Tabitha was harder than dealing with Erina. So I took a deep breath to steady myself, lowered my hand, then stared fixedly at the mechanical girl.

“No more lies. No more crap. Okay? Tell me who you are.”

“I will tell you in due time.”

“No—tell me now!”

She held up a hand. “I will tell you in due time. I promise. But first, there is something else I came to tell you. Something important.”

Of a sudden, my mind seemed to skip ahead or maybe my thoughts simply circled back to the beginning. “Something about Erina?”

“Yes.”

A cold chill began to settle in my chest, and yet, I also felt somewhat annoyed.

Maybe it was because I didn’t want to hear about Erina or the bad news that surrounded her, and that was probably why I glared unhappily at Tabitha, herself the Harbinger of Bad News.

The girl lowered the hand she’d been holding up between us. “As I said before, your sister betrayed House Novis. But she had a reason to.”

Ah…we’re back to this.

Inhaling deeply as though steeling myself, I slowly crossed my arms under Mirai’s breasts. “What reason did she have?”

“Actually, she had two reasons. You and Clarisol. She was protecting both of you.”

I narrowed my eyes at Tabitha. “Don’t you mean she was protecting Ronin?”

The mechanical girl shook her head. “No. She was protecting Mirai and Clarisol.”

“From what?”

“From the plan the Sanreal Family had concocted to give Clarisol a chance at freedom.”

I spared Ghost a fleeting look, and he happened to glance back at me.

Our eyes met, and the look he gave me seemed to say, I don’t know what she means.

I took a step closer to Tabitha. “Why?”

“The transfer would never have worked,” she stated. “Copying Clarisol’s mind into Mirai’s brain would have ended in disaster.”

Ghost abruptly demanded, “Ask her why!”

I flinched a little, unaccustomed to his harsh tone, but nonetheless relayed the question to Tabitha. “Why wouldn’t it have worked?”

Tabitha took a deep breath – or made a show of doing so since she was operating a mechanical body that didn’t need air. “Because anything copied out of that virtual prison is corrupted. It’s the reason why Clarisol’s copies only last a year before going insane.”

I felt the blood drain from my face, and then stumbled back a step.

As for Ghost, he spun on his heels and punched a nearby shelf, but of course, his fist went right through it.

Tabitha smiled but there was no humor or malice behind it.

All I sensed was a deep regret – a genuine, heartfelt sadness.

 

---

Thank you for getting this far.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

For those of you who are interested in reading the original 2017 release of "Gun Princess Royale" the books are still available for purchase via the links are provided below until December 15, 2023. The books will be taken off the shelf to make way for the new series that will be released on the weekend of the 16/17th December.

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

Amidst the political maneuvering, while slowly reconciling his past as Ronin Kassius, Isabel faces a new threat from Tabitha Hexen who reveals her own agenda in wanting to fight Mirai in a Gun Princess Royale battle.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages. I am already working on Book 2.

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– I –

 

Disregarding what I’d said earlier about sitting down and showing weakness before Tabitha, I trudged over to the foot of the bed and sat on it.

Then I looked up to see her circling the table again.

She’d stopped at playing at being a bird. Now, she was mimicking an airplane in a holding pattern around an airport, complete with arms wide and engine sounds coming out of her mouth.

I chose to look past her childish antics, seeing them for the distraction they were, and focused on what she’d just revealed. And if I took her at her word, then it explained a great deal about Clarisol’s aberrant behavior, and it reinforced the difference in personality between the Simulacrum Clarisol and the girl that I’d met in the virtual prison.

But I wanted to know more.

I needed specifics.

However, when I went to ask, I once again had trouble finding my voice.

Clogged by my emotions, I had to breathe slowly a few times to calm down, then swallowed twice to loosen up my throat. My efforts were rewarded, and my voice came out strong and steady, something for which I was grateful, especially since I was dealing with Tabitha the Jet Airliner.

“You said, anything copied out of the virtual prison was corrupted. Does that mean me as well?”

Tabitha continued in her holding pattern as she appeared to give the question some thought. “No, I doubt it. You weren’t copied into the virtual prison. It was more like an avatar of you slipped in through the cracks”—she hesitated before admitting—“cracks that no one knew were there.”

“What?” Confused, I tilted my head at her.

Tabitha made a dive for the coffee table then pulled up. “Until you went in and came back out, nobody knew there were cracks in the prison walls. That’s what I meant.”

I glanced at Ghost who replied with a solemn shrug.

Tabitha slowed down and looked at me over a shoulder. “The cracks have been sealed up. No more unauthorized visits.”

Her words squeezed at my heart. By arranging for me to meet the real Clarisol, Ghost had compromised his secret door into the virtual prison.

I felt it was a heavy price to pay – too heavy.

He wanted me to know the truth, and so he risked it for me, but now he’s cut off from Clarisol.

Guilt and regret welled up inside my chest, putting pressure on my heart and lungs.

I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything….

That seemed to be the crux of the problem.

I didn’t know much about what was going on, and so I was making ill-informed decisions and acting rashly. I needed to stop and think, and I needed to know more – much more – about my circumstances and the people with an interest in me – starting with Tabitha.

I gazed intently at the girl circling the table.

Why would a retired Gun Empress know so much about what was happening around me? Tabitha had said she was a member of a special division within the Battle Commission, but I suspected she was part of something greater…something more insidious.

Wetting my lips, I then swallowed past the worries that threatened to clog up my throat.

I needed to remain focused.

Tabitha was here to talk, and I needed to learn as much as I could from her. It may not all be true, but I could weed out the lies later.

Inhaling slowly, I then exhaled gently.

Let’s do this.

“Why can’t Clarisol be freed through the same cracks?”

“She could, but the Empress would notice the empty prison. That would be a dangerous mistake. For now, making copies is the only thing the Empress will allow.”

“Then why not slip a copy of her out through one of the cracks? Would that work? Would it avoid the corruption?”

I kept my eyes on Tabitha, but I could see Ghost waiting impatiently for an answer from the girl.

Tabitha stopped circling the table, then sat down on its edge. Facing me, she primly folded her hands over her lap.

Normally, I’d take that as a sign that she was playing around again, but the grave expression on her face made me think otherwise. This was the seldom seen Tabitha – the serious Tabitha – so paying attention to her was a must because it was like witnessing a rare event, like a planetary alignment that only occurred once in a millennium.

After a deep breath, she grimly asked me, “Do you want to know what I think?”

I replied with a nod.

Tabitha leaned toward me a little. “Have you read a book called Lost Horizon?”

Puzzled, I gently shook my head. “No, never.”

“It’s quite interesting. You should read it when you can. There was as surprisingly good film based on the book made during the early Twentieth Century. Watch it when you have a free moment.”

I wondered what a book or a movie had to do with Clarisol.

Tabitha appeared to be expecting that. “In the book, there is a place called Shangri-La,” she explained. “The people there live for a very long time. But if they leave, their bodies return to their true age and they die.”

Tabitha leaned closer to me.

“I think it’s not the copy process that is flawed. I believe it’s the source itself that is corrupted.” She paused as though waiting for her words to sink in. “I suspect that staying within the virtual space is what keeps the corruption in check. In other words, it doesn’t manifest until Clarisol’s mind is copied into a physical body. Whatever checks and balances exist within the virtual space, they can’t be replicated within the brain of a Simulacrum.”

“You’re saying…Clarisol can’t leave because she’ll grow mad.”

The gentle nod Tabitha gave me made my heart sink. “Yes. She’s trapped.”

Ghost turned away either in anger or despair, or possibly both.

Feeling some of that, I bowed me head and looked down at my bare feet.

Tabitha continued after a few moments of silence. “I suspect that Erina Kassius realized the true reason why the Clarisol Simulacra were going crazy after a year or so. I don’t know if she told the Sanreals. Maybe she did. Most likely they didn’t listen to her. After all, in hindsight, we know they spent considerable time and resources setting up the fake identity of Isabel Allegrando. They were committed to getting a copy of Clarisol out to safety. The other Clarisols had gone mad. They probably blamed it on the Simulacra she was copied into. They pinned all their hopes on Mirai. But Erina Kassius decided otherwise, and she took matters into her own hands. Imprinting a copy of Clarisol into Mirai was something she couldn’t accept. Mirai is simply too precious for her to risk with a corrupted version of Clarisol’s mind.”

I looked up at the mechanical girl.

Tabitha’s explanation was plausible.

Erina had said that Mirai was a host for the Angel Fibers. However, during our final conversation on the boat, when I affirmed my decision to compete in the Gun Princess Royale as Mirai, Erina had led me to believe that Mirai was intended to be much more. It was only a nagging suspicion of mine, yet it supported what Tabitha was saying, and if true, it begged the question of what is Mirai’s true purpose?

Tabitha watched me carefully, perhaps seeing the wheels spinning behind my eyes. “I will admit that I have no hard evidence. But the evidence I have collected has led me to this conclusion. And if I’ve arrived here by following the breadcrumbs, then others will too.”

I tried holding back a frown but failed. “What are you saying?”

“That your sister may find herself in trouble.”

I frowned in question. “From the Empress?”

“No. From the Sanreal Family and House Novis.”

Tabitha’s delivery was so casual that I accepted her statement without a second thought. Then again, she’d been painting a convincing case leading up to her assertion that Erina was in deep shit. But if she was expecting to evoke sympathy or concern from me, she was sorely mistaken.

“So what?” I replied. “If the Sanreals, or House Novis, or the Empress want their pound of flesh, then who am I to stand in their way?”

My relationship with Erina was a fiery one, and I wasn’t feeling much love for her.

Honestly, I wasn’t feeling any love for her, and this was far from a case of water under the bridge, so my indifferent response shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Tabitha…but it did.

The machine girl blinked rhythmically for a long while before she started to chuckle. Moments later, that chuckle turned into a hearty laugh.

At that point, I realized something important about Tabitha.

She’s not watching me as closely as I thought she was. She doesn’t know that Erina and I are at each other’s throats.

Leaning forward, I planted my right elbow on my lap, then dropped my chin onto an upturned palm. As I waited for her to calm down – at least, I presumed she would eventually calm down – I took the opportunity to study her.

Straus’s Cat Princess had intrigued me, and so too Tabitha’s machine avatar. Why? Because she was so very real – right down to the raspy noise she made as she caught her breath, and when Tabitha wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, I noticed they looked a little moist. This attention to detail added to the lifelike qualities of the girl, and I found them both fascinating…and disturbing. It also made me wonder how many of these machine avatars were out there walking the streets of the city. Perhaps, it was yet another good reason to keep secret Mirai’s ability to see the lifeforce that radiated from people, since it was something of an ace in the hole for me.

Tabitha patted her chest as she brought the remains of her laughter under control.

“I guess your sister had that coming.” She chuckled once more, relaxed, then resumed sitting primly on the coffee table. “I should have known this would happen.”

I agreed with her.

Yeah, you should have known. But you haven’t been watching me all that well enough, have you?

“So?” I asked her.

Tabitha met my blunt stare with an uncertain smile. “Does that mean you’re not going to help her?”

“After everything she’s put me through, I’m surprised you’re asking me that.”

Tabitha hesitated before tipping her head at me. “Is that how you honestly feel?”

I was prepared to say ‘yes’ but chose to ruminate upon the touchy subject of Erina Kassius for a short while.

Maybe it’s better if I act concerned? No, it’s a little late for that now. I should have been smarter. So now what?

I caught upon an idea. “What’s in it for me?”

Tabitha’s eyes widened slightly before she coyly asked, “Are you open to a proposition?”

“I think you mentioned something like that before.”

Ghost anxiously stepped closer to me. “Princess—?”

I silenced him with the subtle wave of a finger, and he looked on with worry.

Not quite ignoring him, I kept my attention on Tabitha. “Your proposition…let’s hear it.”

“Erina Kassius is important to us.”

I felt like sighing but instead I snorted. Why is that not a surprise? However—

“Who is us?” I asked her.

“House Alus Cardinal.”

“A rival Noble House?”

Tabitha nodded politely.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “And what is House Alus Cardinal to you?”

She straightened her posture, then placed a hand on her chest as though she were about to recite an oath.

“My name is Taura Hexaria Erz Cardinal.”

Ghost sighed as he crossed his arms. “Finally….”

I glanced at him.

Bastard. You knew who she was. You could have told me this before.

He was staring warily at Tabitha thus our eyes didn’t meet, but I was certain he’d felt my glance. Then I realized that Clarisol would have known about Taura’s true identity. She should have told me about this girl back in the school library, and yet she’d kept it to herself. Frankly, I found Ghost and Clarisol’s penchant for keeping secrets was fraying my nerves. But then I wondered if Mat also knew, especially since he’d demonstrated he could keep secrets too.

It bothered me to some degree how little I could trust the people around me.

I chose not to dwell on it lest I begin to despair, because doing so in front of Tabitha would be a big mistake.

Exhaling softly, I focused on Tabitha. “Does that make you someone important?”

She smirked faintly. “I’m the second daughter-heir to the Hexaria Family. My twin sister is the first having been born a couple of minutes before me.”

Lifting my chin off my palm, I sat up straighter. “So that’s why you know so much about what’s going on. I figured you were more than just a former Gun Empress. But to think you were this high up the chain of command.”

“The chain of command?” Tabitha shrugged. “Well, I needed a life after retiring. Every sports athlete has to think ahead. All of us have a shelf—”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Having been cutoff, Tabitha pouted for a second before asking, “Then pray tell. What did you mean?”

I shook my head sharply. “Nope. You figure it out.”

“How rude.”

“I don’t care. And we’ve gone off track.”

“That is true.”

I crossed my arms. “You said Erina is important to you. What did you mean by that?”

“Her knowledge is of great value to my family and thereby, House Cardinal’s future ambitions.”

I squinted at her. “Your family wants Erina to make them another Mirai?”

Tabitha winced before sheepishly looking away. “That’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

She scratched a cheek. “There’s a small…complication.”

Erina had called me a miracle, but I didn’t believe that’s what Tabitha was referring to. “What complication?”

The girl chuckled but it sounded nervous which was out of character for her.

“Tabitha?” I prompted her.

She sighed and met my gaze. “It’s the Empress. She won’t allow anyone else to conduct research to develop another Mirai. So even with Doctor Kassius in our employ, developing another version of Mirai…of you…is forbidden.”

Why would she go that far?

Something about that decision didn’t make sense to me. It almost sounded as though the Empress was intent on safeguarding Mirai’s uniqueness. But why would she do that? Was she afraid of Mirai and thereby feared what more than one Ultra Grade Simulacrum could do? Or was she like Erina? In other words, was it possible the Empress had a plan for me?

I swallowed a tad anxiously.

Erina sees me as humanity’s future. So how does the Empress see me?

The question gave me a chill that I tried to hide from Tabitha who was watching me keenly. In all honesty, her quiet and serious demeanor was unsettling because I wasn’t used to it.

I hated to admit it, but she had me on the proverbial backfoot.

Giving myself a moment to compose my thoughts, I breathed in slow and deeply, then firmly asked, “What good is Erina to you?”

“Good question.” Tabitha paused for moment. “We cannot conduct research to create another Mirai, but we can continue to develop our own Simulacra. Since the war, there has been a shortage of manpower throughout the Empire. House Cardinal is prepared to offer Erina Kassius sanctuary from the Sanreal Family and House Novis if she will aid our efforts to improve and develop superior Simulacra. And, House Cardinal enjoys considerable support in the Inner Court, thus Kateopia would think thrice about moving against us.”

That gave me another chill. “Move against you?”

“Even after ten years, Kateopia’s military forces have not entirely recovered to their pre-war levels. She’s vulnerable. She needs the support of the Noble Houses of the Inner Court—Noble Houses with the rank of Alus.” She winked at me. “Noble Houses like House Cardinal.”

In my wide field-of-vision, I saw Ghost nodding gently in agreement with Tabitha.

Having him around helped me separate the lies from the truth, but I needed time to digest these revelations. However, time was something that I didn’t have, and I was being forced to think fast on my feet.

“Why would she even think of moving against you?”

“You probably don’t know this, but the Empire isn’t keen on too much automation.”

Given what I’d seen thus far of the Empire’s technology, I was perplexed by her answer. “It’s not?”

“Artificial Awarenesses and Assisting Intelligences are well and good, but too much machine labor is frowned upon. In other words, Simulacra serve in place of robot automation.”

“You mean…they’re slave labor.”

“Correct. Simulacra are slave labor. Of course, there’s a great deal of machinery supporting said labor, but at the end of the day, it’s biomechanical flesh and bone that makes things happen. And the problem is that Simulacra don’t last. Two years. Three years. Possibly four. It depends on their grade and type. To keep their knowledge from being lost, elite models have their minds copied and imprinted into their replacement bodies. However, the high turnover is a problem. And due to the war taxing our resources, we’ve had to rely increasingly on machines to do their work.”

“What’s wrong with that? Why not use robots or androids as labor?”

“As I said, the Empire does not like to rely on machines.”

“Yes, but why?”

Tabitha breathed in and out deeply. “Because there was a time when automation became too smart and too aggressive for its own good…and ours.”

“An A.I. war?”

“It was stopped before it became a war. However, in order to do so the Empire was forced to rely on smarter humans and the development of Artificial Awarenesses through the use of Remnant Technology—which I may add is poorly understood. Nonetheless, it was the Remnant tech that saved us. But the cost to the Empire was vast. You could say, we were never the same again.”

“So the Three Laws didn’t work for you?”

“Nope. They didn’t.”

“Why?”

“That is a long story. But the short of it is, can you apply the Three Laws to people?”

Slowly, I shook my head. “No….”

“Then how can you apply it to an intelligence that no longer considers itself subservient?”

Swallowing quietly, I shook my head again. “I guess you can’t….”

“Thus, to avoid a repeat of the past, the Empire relies on Simulacra. And with biomechanical flesh, we can take better precautions to prevent our creations from deposing its creators.” Tabitha dipped her head at me. “But what your thinking is correct. Simulacra have become a secondary race. However, while they serve as slave labor, we do afford them nearly all human rights. Discrimination is strictly forbidden. And I do mean forbidden.”

“So the Empire needs Simulacra and you want Erina’s help to make better ones.”

Tabitha raised her chin and faced me squarely. “Give the lady a cigar.”

“So why did you say that the Empress would think twice about going against you?”

“Who has the best Simulacra wins.”

“What…?”

I may have uttered the question, but I’d already arrived at the answer.

Simulacra weren’t just slave labor. They were soldiers. They were the backbone of the Empire’s army. I grasped that in a flash of insight, and thus I understood what Tabitha was saying.

“If Doctor Kassius creates better Simulacra for us, it’s possible that Kateopia will grudgingly accept our advances if we share our spoils gained from the mind of the good doctor. But if she tries to take our Simulacra from us, she’s likely to face opposition. That risks another war—a war she would be best inclined to avoid. That could bring her to the negotiating table.”

“But House Cardinal has the rank of Alus. What more could they want?”

Tabitha looked bemused and then amused. “What more? Well, isn’t it obvious?”

Yes, it was.

“The crown….”

Her amusement grew macabre. “The Imperial Crown.”

“How? How could you negotiate for it?”

“We would negotiate a re-instatement to the rules of succession. In short, we would negotiate for the right to challenge the Imperial Family in one-on-one combat.”

I had a sickening realization of what she meant. “The Gun Princess Royale.”

“Correct. In times past, before the Gun Princess Royale, disagreements relating to succession were occasionally resolved by having two representative champions face each other in mortal combat. After all, the prize was the leadership of the Empire, so anything less than mortal combat simply wouldn’t do. With the advent of the GPR, the medium for the challenge changed, but it was still a battle to the death for its operators.”

“You said that was in the past.”

“I did. That is because Kateopia’s father refused a challenge from a rival Noble House, and summarily scrapped the right to contest for leadership of the Empire by mortal combat. This was one of many reasons why a significant number of the Alus ranked Noble Houses went to war against House Aventisse. They feared that House Aventisse would eventually do away with the articles that ensured the Empire was ruled in a—dare I say—fair manner?”

Tabitha’s cold reasoning was beginning to lead my thoughts to a grim conclusion.

“And what do you want from me?”

Tabitha clasped her hands together on her lap. “We want you to compete for House Cardinal.”

Forget about hiding my emotions.

I openly gaped at her. “…what…why…?”

“Because you’re special. You have potential.” Tabitha pointed at her eyes with a finger. “And I know a winner when I see one. I believe you can go all the way.”

“All the way…?”

“All the way to the Majors. All the way to the Gun Queen Royale.” Tabitha looked at me with confidence. “I believe you could one day be crowned Gun Empress.”

Ghost was eyeing me studiously, and with a pang I realized it was because I was hanging onto Tabitha’s every word.

Gun Queen? Gun Empress? Who? Me?

I’d only had one fight so far, and it had been rigged against me, but what if Tabitha was right about me? Then again, she could be appealing to my ego.

I had to think carefully.

I needed to know more.

And I tried not to wet lips before asking, “What’s in it for me?”

“House Cardinal will afford you all the luxuries you can desire.”

“You’ll get me back into a male body?”

I said it bluntly, but Tabitha was prepared for it and answered without hesitation. “Of course.”

“Bullshit. You think I’m stupid enough to fall for that?”

Tabitha was silent so I pressed on.

“You really think I would trust you and your family? How do I know they won’t box my sister—I mean Erina—as soon as they have their claws on her?” I narrowed my eyes at the machine girl. “How do I know they won’t box me?”

“Box?”

“Yeah—lock me away and shove my mind into a virtual prison.” I shook my head slowly. “I have absolutely no reason to trust you.”

“We could challenge for you.”

I didn’t know what that entailed, but I certainly didn’t like the way it sounded. “Care to explain?”

“House Cardinal can invoke Imperial court laws that allow it to challenge House Novis for you.”

I glanced at Ghost and caught the nod he gave me.

Holding back a frown, I asked the obvious. “Then why don’t you challenge House Novis for Erina? Why waste your time on me?”

Tabitha pressed her lips together and replied with silence. But it was the smile she betrayed that ultimately revealed her answer.

“Frek you,” I whispered. “There’s no frekking way—”

“Oh, come now. Think of what it would mean for you. For us. For House Cardinal.” She smiled like the Cheshire Cat. “Think of what it would mean for House Novis.”

I noisily sucked in air then it blew it out loudly.

“You expect me to fight for you so that House Cardinal can rule the Empire?”

Tabitha continued to smile at me from ear to ear. “It’ll be fun.”

“If I lose, I die.”

“True, but if you win….”

I didn’t like the way she allowed her words to hang in the air. “In that case, I can fight for House Novis.”

“They are unlikely to convince the Empress to reinstate contesting for the crown by mortal combat.”

“Exactly.” I smirked at her. “And that suits me just fine. I’d rather live than die.”

The smile faded from Tabitha’s lips. “I knew you would say that.”

“They why did you bother asking me?”

“Because I had to try.”

I was surprised, not by her words, but by her tone.

She sounded grim, almost resigned to fail, thus it made me ponder why she’d come at all. Had she been backed into a corner by her Noble House? Tabitha had interacted with me before, so perhaps they forced her to negotiate with me in person. Or was it possible that she had chosen to negotiate with me because she was somehow protecting me? In other words, had Tabitha volunteered to hold these failed negotiations because the other negotiators were unlikely to be as nice to me?

If that was true, then should I be grateful to her?

I gave myself a moment to shelve the question, choosing to ask something else instead. “Are you going to challenge for me? I mean, is House Cardinal going to challenge for me?”

Tabitha grew pensive. “If your life was not at stake, would you consider it? Would you consider representing House Cardinal?”

I grew exasperated. “Tabitha, mortal combat is not my cup of tea.”

“Then you’re saying that if your life was not at stake, you would consider it?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” I flatly retorted.

“Then what would make you consider it?”

The slight edge in her voice was something I hadn’t heard from her before. It was a hint of desperation that gave me pause, almost as much as the intense stare she was aiming at me. However, I was at a loss for how to reply.

Undoubtedly seeing this, Tabitha broke the heavy silence between us. “I saved you.”

“What?” I blinked sharply, struggling to keep up with her as she jumped the conversation onto a new track. “Saved me? From what?”

“I was the one who overrode the maglev’s controls. And I made sure that it arrived at the station right when you needed it. In that respect, I provided the getaway car.”

So that’s what happened?

At the time, I thought the Fates had cut me a break, but it seemed that I owed my good fortune to the meddlesome girl in front of me. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you owe me.”

I was ready to retort that I hadn’t asked for her help, but I was interrupted by Ghost.

“Princess, tell her you need time to think it over.”

What?

I was so surprised that if my gaze hadn’t been locked on Tabitha, I would have swung my head to stare directly at Ghost. Instead, in my peripheral vision, I saw him nod reassuringly.

“Tell her you need time to contemplate her offer.”

Are you freaking sure?

“Princess, I believe it is the safest course of action.”

My innards clammed up at the obvious warning he was giving me, and I regarded Tabitha sitting a few feet in front of me under a new light.

If Ghost saw her as a threat, then what could she do to me? She was a mechanical and Mirai was a Simulacrum. Could I match her in a test of strength and martial prowess? For that matter, I had no idea if she was hiding a weapon or two, while I had nothing at my disposal except kitchen knives. Even then, what could knives do against a machine avatar?

“Princess,” Ghost gently urged me.

I tried to hide a rattled breath, hoping that Tabitha wouldn’t notice it. “I can’t give you an answer…not right now. I need to think about it. I need some time.”

Her studious stare eased up slightly. “Does that mean you will consider it?”

I hesitated and I was sure she noticed, but perhaps it suited the moment. “Yes, I’ll think about it….”

Her mood brightened almost immediately, while mine remained conflicted. It wasn’t helped when she smiled cheerily and said, “I’ll need an answer by Friday.”

“What?” I gave her a suspicious look. “Why Friday?”

“Because it’s very important. I need an answer no later than midday, Ar Telica time. Friday.”

“Yes, but why?”

Tabitha gracefully stood up and made a show of rubbing her belly. “I’m famished, so I’ll tell you why over breakfast.”

“What are you talking about? That body is mechanical so why would you need to eat?”

She wagged a finger at me. “This body is more than just mechanical. It’s special.”

“How special?”

Not bothering to answer me, Tabitha walked over to Mercy’s poster that she’d been admiring earlier. The slothful, apathetic air she’d been parading since she entered the apartment was back. The firm, serious, somewhat edgy Tabitha was now but a memory. Standing before the poster, she faithfully posed like Mercy in the poster sans bikini. However, she looked so utterly bored it completely ruined the effect.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Impressive, right?”

How can she ask me that while making such a face?

Nonetheless, I appraised her with a critical eye. “You’ve got nice legs, but your boobs are too small.”

“I agree completely. Unfortunately, the designers ignored my enhancement requests. But in answer to your question, I can enjoy food in this body, although it’s somewhat vicarious.”

I stared at her thoughtfully. “This isn’t the same type of body you used back in the match between the Gun Queen and I?”

“This is the covert operations model. Significantly more lifelike. And it doesn’t set off the security scanners when I pass through checkpoints.” She smiled lazily as she stepped up to me. “Squeeze my boobs.”

“What?” I almost fell off the bed. “What are you saying?”

“Don’t you want to know how real they feel? You can compare them to the pair you have.”

Since I wasn’t a girl – merely a boy inside the body of a girl – I should not have reflexively crossed my arms protectively over Mirai’s chest. But that’s exactly what I did, and having realized that, I dropped my arms away in a hurry. “Knock it off. I’m not doing something like that. Mechanical or not, you’re still a girl. Show some modesty.”

“How dull,” she drawled like a windup toy on its last legs.

“Whatever,” I snapped, annoyed by her lack of decorum.

Tabitha held up a finger. “Anyway, as I was saying. I can enjoy a good meal. So, let’s have breakfast.”

I glared at her. “Fine…but I have no money.”

She sluggishly shrugged. “Not a problem. I’ll charge it as a business expense to Libra.”

I continued glaring at her, but a curious thought crossed my mind.

Wasn’t she watching me when I bought my phone and the sports bra?

Tabitha pointed at the canvas gym bag she’d left on my bed. “But first, you should change.”

I glanced at the bag. “Why?”

“Because there’s a uniform in there.”

Hearing that, I scooted away from the bag as though it contained a bomb. “A uniform?”

“A Telos Academy high school girl’s uniform.”

I retreated farther. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“If you put it on, I’ll let you in on a secret or two over breakfast.”

“I’m not wearing a girl’s uniform.”

“You’ll have to eventually. I understand that you’ve been enrolled at Telos Academy and you’ll be starting school on Monday.”

I flinched at the reminder of what lay in store for me.

Damn! She knows about that?

However, it also made me think that Tabitha’s information on me was rather patchy.

She continued as though exhausted by the effort to speak. “Therefore, you may as well give the uniform a test run.”

“Not a chance.”

“Really?”

After acting as though her batteries were running dry, a faint light danced behind the girl’s eyes. It made me wary of her, thus I adamantly declared, “There’s no way I’m wearing a girl’s uniform—again!”

“Again? Ah, yes. During your stint cross-playing as the female Ronin Kassius.”

“I wasn’t cross-playing”—I thought about it for a heartbeat—“okay, maybe I was.”

Tabitha sighed and then slumped as though she’d run back-to-back marathons. “I knew it would come to this.”

She slipped a hand into a dress pocket and retrieved a slip of paper that suspiciously resembled a concert ticket. “Maybe this will change your mind.” She held up the ticket for me to see. “Do you know what this is?”

“A concert ticket?”

“Dinner with Mercy Haddaway as part of a charity promotion she’s organized.”

“Geh!” I fell off the bed and landed with a thud on the floor. “No—no way. You’re lying….”

Swaying unsteadily, Tabitha stalked me as she waved the ticket listlessly before my eyes. “You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

Yes, I knew what that ticket was all about. How could I not? After all, I was Mercy’s self-professed number one fan.

The story behind that ticket was that people who donated X amount to a charity of Mercy Haddaway’s choice would earn the privilege of a romantic dinner for two with the goddess.

There were only five such dinner events on offer, and the five biggest donations would win.

When I read about it on her blog page, I felt the gap between Mercy and I widen beyond the breadth of the star system. The dream of eating dinner with the woman of my dreams was simply that – a dream. And yet here was Tabitha tempting me with a ticket I never believed I would see in my entire life.

Tabitha was waving it close to my face, making me cross-eyed.

“You are getting sleepy…sleepy,” she droned.

“Stop—stop that!”

I didn’t know what was worse – the temptation to snatch the ticket from her hand or having to listen to her.

“Very sleepy, sleepy,” Tabitha continued as though she was describing herself.

“You—you’re the one who’s sleepy! Get away from me!”

Her eyelids drooped as she carried on mercilessly, “Your eyes are getting heavy, very heavy—”

I was reaching the end of my rope. “How—how did you get that ticket?”

“Oh, about that.” Tabitha stopped moving the ticket about, yet she swayed woozily before me. “House Cardinal’s Conquistador Class Awareness ran simulations on how best to coerce you into cooperating with us. It decided that Mercy Haddaway was the answer to many problems. So, House Cardinal made a sizeable donation to Mercy’s favorite charity and scored us a ticket in the name of Isabel val Sanreal.” Tabitha held the slip of printed paper a little closer to me. “This ticket is proof of that.”

I stared at both her and the ticket in disbelief.

They made the donation in my name? Did House Novis not notice that?

I cast a frantic, questioning look at Ghost and he shook his head worriedly.

You mean they didn’t know?

I wondered if heads would roll because of that. However, I didn’t care so long as it wasn’t my head. I agree that sounded heartless, but I had my own problems to contend with.

Staring cross-eyed at the ticket, I protested in a whiny voice, “That’s not fair! That’s hitting below the belt.”

“I have it on good authority that Mercy will be wearing a slinky red number designed by Dolce Gambatta. Guaranteed to advertise her soft, luscious curves.”

Hearing Tabitha describe Mercy’s figure in those terms while sounding half asleep was a crime I shouldn’t have tolerated. Yet rather than express outrage, I shook my head and fled from her by scampering backwards on the floor.

“No—no way. That’s—that’s way too much info!”

Tabitha pressed home her advantage. “Think about it. Dinner for two with the girl of your dreams.”

I had trouble swallowing and almost choked. “Dinner…for two…?”

Tabitha straightened but continued dangling the ticket just out of my reach. “And all you have to do is wear the uniform while sharing breakfast with me.”

For a racing heartbeat, my attention jumped to the bag lying on my bed before immediately returning to the ticket.

Then I made my fateful decision.

I leapt to my feet with all the agility Mirai could muster and succeeded in catching Tabitha by surprise.

Striking faster than a cobra, I reached for the prized ticket before she could react.

Unfortunately for me, Tabitha had an iron grip on the slip of paper.

It tore in half when I snatched it from her fingertips.

That morning, for the first time in the building’s history, a loud feminine scream pierced the soundproofed walls of a boy’s dorm apartment.

 

– II –

 

After I calmed down, Tabitha informed me that the ticket was only a copy that could be reprinted at any time. What was important was the fact that my donation under the name of Isabel val Sanreal had been registered and accepted.

Apparently, it wasn’t an issue for a girl to be having dinner with Mercy Haddaway.

That is, Mercy didn’t appear to have a problem with it.

Nonetheless, the prospect of dinner with my goddess left me somewhat disoriented and distracted. Thus, before I knew it, I’d showered and dressed myself in the Telos Academy uniform Tabitha had provided – including the black, lacy underwear she’d added for good measure.

Oh, and before you ask, I dressed myself in the bathroom and I kept the door locked. I had enough presence of mind to keep Tabitha from peeking at me. However, it wasn’t until I had a good look at myself in a mirror that I was struck by the magnitude of what I’d been roped into.

“What the Hell…?”

I stood in the hallway, staring in dismay at Mirai’s reflection in a full-length mirror mounted on the inside of a closet door.

Perhaps now is a good time to describe the design of Telos Academy’s uniform for girls.

The summer uniform, which is what I was wearing now, comes in two flavors.

The first is a one-piece dress, dark brown, almost black, that is designed to give the appearance of a combined skirt and blouse, with the tail ends of the blouse flowing over the fake skirt’s waistline. The dress’s hemline ends at the knee, and the blouse bears a distinct ‘sailor girl’ appearance with its white trimmed collar and lapels. The sleeves come in two variants that end either at the elbows or the forearms. Both styles bear the Academy’s emblem printed in white either on the cuffs or at the shoulders.

The second flavor of the uniform consists of a separate skirt and blouse, that combine to resemble the one-piece dress in both length and appearance. In other words, the blouse retains the sailor girl look, but is separate from the skirt. Because of this, it gave the more adventurous girls of the academy the opportunity to flaunt their midriffs, though girls caught wearing a blouse too small for their size faced afternoon detention.

In both versions of the uniform the skirt had two zippered pockets, and the blouse was complemented by a short necktie that came in three colors: white for first years, yellow for second years, and red for third year seniors.

The tie that I was presently wearing was white.

As for the shoes, rather than being dark, boring, and squarish, I found them to be rather stylish and comfortable due to their blend of a deck shoe and a sports sneaker that could be worn with or without socks.

Dressed in the two-piece, long sleeve version of the uniform, I regarded my reflection with a sinking sensation in my gut. The blouse was a perfect fit for my shoulders and arms, but Mirai’s overly abundant chest pushed it out, thus making it appear shorter than it really was. This threatened to expose my bare midriff.

“What the Hell…?” I muttered again while tugging down on the blouse. Realizing it was futile, I opted to glare at Tabitha instead. “This is too short.”

“Oh contraire, mon’amie.” Tabitha gave me a dreary thumbs up. “I approve.”

“You approve? Are you serious? I’m not an exhibitionist.”

“There’s nothing wrong with showing off a little skin. Besides, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Most girls would kill to look as good as you do.”

“Yeah, most girls will want to kill me—especially when their boyfriends get a look at me—ah!”

Realizing what I’d just said, I froze and stared aghast at Mirai’s likeness in the mirror.

What the Hell am I saying?

Tabitha gave me a lackluster smirk. “You’re a Gun Princess. They’re no match for you.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

She languidly waved aside my outcry. “The uniform fits you to a T. Don’t you agree?”

I gave myself another critical look, then shrugged in defeat. “Other than the blouse, I’ll admit everything else fits fine.”

“Including your bra?” she inquired with bored sincerity.

I flushed hotly when I remembered the racy appearance of my underwear. “Y—yeah, that too.” An unpleasant thought jumped up and caught my attention. “How did you know my size?”

“We scanned your body when you were translocated. Remember?”

My eyes widened. “Oh, that’s right. You did mention that….”

“I know all your dimensions.”

Embarrassed at hearing that, I felt my face grow hotter. “Well, isn’t that just wonderful!”

Tabitha folded her arms and paid my outburst no heed. “Barefoot, you stand 177 centimetres tall. Your weight is fifty-eight kilograms.”

“Huh? Did you say fifty-eight?” I pointed at Mirai’s slender reflection. “Isn’t that a little heavy for girl that looks like that?”

Tabitha motored on. “Your three sizes are: eighty-eight, fifty-four, eighty.”

I waved my hands wildly at her. “Wait—wait a minute!”

“Yes, what is it?”

I took a swift breath as I tried to calm down. “How can I weigh fifty-eight kilograms? There’s no way I’m that heavy. I certainly don’t feel heavy.”

“You don’t?”

“I feel as light as a feather….”

Tabitha was quiet for a short while before saying, “That’s to be expected. You’re a Simulacrum. Your body is extremely strong, so it’s no wonder you feel weightless. As for your skeleton, it’s strong, heavy, yet remarkably flexible. How else would you survive so many hits without breaking?”

“I thought that was because of the Angel Fibers.”

“Undoubtedly, they add to your durability….”

For a moment, Tabitha’s matter-of-fact reply distracted me from the issue about my weight because I noticed that she said durable rather than indestructible.

But then I noticed something else.

She was frowning, ever so faintly, and her words had trailed off rather than ended, giving me the impression that she had more to say but was too troubled to say it.

“Hey, Tabitha?”

She blinked, closed her mouth, then smiled lazily. “Oui, mon’amie?”

“Something you’re not telling me?”

“There is lots I’m not telling you.”

“I figured that much. But is there something about Mirai that you bothered.”

“There is lots about Mirai that has me bothered.”

Frustrated, I growled at her, then asked, “Would you just tell me already?”

“What would you like to know?”

“Why is she so damn heavy? You said my skeleton was strong and heavy. What is it? Metallic? An alloy? Biomechanical?”

Tabitha started to frown again but quickly stopped and wiped it off her face. “As far as we can tell, neither.”

It was my turn to frown. “Huh?”

“It’s bone, but the structure is…different. Strong, flexible, rather extraordinary for a Simulacrum.”

Extraordinary?

“So…I’m not a machine?”

“Not as far as we can tell.”

Erina had never told me that. I’d always had the impression and assumed that Mirai was at least biomechanical on the inside, but Tabitha had just said otherwise. So then what kind of Simulacra was Mirai?

Bothered by the question, I studied my appearance yet again. “How strong do you figure I am?”

“From our observations, you’re easily six or seven times stronger than a girl your size. You’re not a machine, but you’re no regular Simulacrum either. You’re quite clearly well above the specs of a Master Grade because with that much strength and power, your body should be tearing itself apart.”

“Why?”

“Think about it,” Tabitha suggested. “You’re grossly overpowered. It’s like having an engine in a car that can’t handle that much torque. It would rip the transmission and drive train to pieces. Or if you think of those models that have motors in each wheel, they would tear right off the axles. That’s what I mean.”

“But I’m not flying apart,” I told her. “I don’t feel like that’s going to happen at all.”

Tabitha nodded. “And that’s the problem. After all that running and fighting you did, why are you still in one piece. If you’re not a Master Grade, you’re certainly a new class of Simulacrum. Perhaps we should classify you as an Ultra Grade.”

I thought back to what Erina had said back on the boat.

Hadn’t she called me that already?

Tabitha wasn’t finished. “Either way, whatever your composition, you’re one of a kind. And your ability to contain and capitalize on that immense strength makes you special. Very special.”

“So what’s keeping me together?”

The girl was pensive for a second. “We suspect it’s the Angel Fibers. We don’t know how they work, but it’s possible that they’re constantly repairing your body. Then again, it’s quite possible that your body is simply that robust. That means that for the first time ever, a Simulacrum exists that is physically as strong as a machine avatar, while being almost entirely organic.”

I swallowed hard.

Is she serious?

Rather than being amazed at Tabitha’s description of my physical abilities, I felt a cold chill run through my body, and it roused goosebumps all over my skin.

Restraining the urge to rub my arms, I swept my gaze over Tabitha.

“If I’m that strong, why couldn’t I close the door on you.”

“That was because I had my foot in the doorway,” Tabitha reminded me. “This body may be mechanical, but if you’d pushed me directly, I wouldn’t have been able to stand my ground.”

Is that really true? I wondered. “Then you believe I can stand toe-to-toe with a Gun Princess.”

“Gun Princesses are built differently to this body that I’m operating. They’re a lot stronger, and heavier too. Depending on her internal design, a Gun Princess equivalent to your size can weigh between ninety and a hundred kilos.”

“That’s still light for a machine, right?”

Tabitha sounded curious. “You consider that light?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Considering how strong you make them out to be, I think they’re rather light.”

“Make them too heavy, and they lose their mobility.”

I wasn’t certain, but I had the suspicion someone had mentioned that to me before, but I couldn’t recall when or where.

I gave Mirai’s appearance another good look.

In doing so, I remembered Tabitha had rolled off Mirai’s three sizes, and so I regarded my chest with mixed feelings. “Bust eighty-eight. I’m a centimeter bigger than Mercy.”

Tabitha nodded sagely. “Yes, you bested her in that category. You’re also a centimeter taller than she is.”

Comparing myself to my goddess was making me feel embarrassed all over again, and my heart began thumping loudly in my chest. Quickly closing the closet door, I leaned against the wall beside me and waited for my heart to relax. But when it refused to comply, I distracted myself by focusing on the next problem at hand.

Speaking up, I was grateful my voice was steady and not influenced by my racing heart. “Okay. I’m dressed. Now what?”

“Now we do breakfast,” Tabitha declared sleepily.

Argh! This girl is killing me!

I threw her a frustrated look. “Would it hurt you to show some enthusiasm?”

Tabitha opened her arms wide. “Hug me.”

I raised a fist at her. “No—I’m going to hit you!”

Then I experienced one of those all too frequent delayed reactions whenever I interacted with Tabitha. That was because I realized that eating breakfast meant walking out of the apartment and heading out into the world dressed as a high school girl attending Telos Academy.

“Wait a minute,” I snapped and waved my hands at Tabitha as though warding her off like a bad smell. “You expect me to walk out of here wearing this?”

Tabitha offered me the gym bag. “I put your other clothes inside.”

“No, no, no,” I protested. “Not happening. Not happening.”

Tabitha held the bag higher. “What is the problem? You walked through the city as a girl.”

“But this is different,” I objected.

“What’s different?”

“Now I’m dressed in a high school girl’s uniform.”

Tabitha frowned drowsily then slowly cocked her head in confusion. “I fail to see the difference.”

I grabbed my head in both hands. “This is my worst nightmare all over again.”

Tabitha snorted loudly, then shoved the gym bag into my chest. “Grow a pair,” she suggested with a stifled yawn.

“What?”

She released the bag and I instinctively caught it before it could land on my feet.

“Hey!” I snapped at her.

“Let’s go, Princess,” Tabitha murmured unenthusiastically.

I stared at her as she walked past me toward the apartment’s entrance.

Is she putting on an act or is she really that tired?

If she’d been watching me all through the morning, she may have been lacking in sleep.

Glancing at the bag in my arms, I reluctantly slung its carry straps over my right shoulder. But I didn’t follow Tabitha. Instead, I found myself rooted to the ground, unable to step away.

This feels wrong. Leaving like this…feels wrong.

“Are you coming?” Tabitha asked me.

“Give me a moment,” I replied before walking into the living room.

She followed me, but chose to wait for me at the mouth of the hallway, while I gave the place I’d called home for three years a long, lasting look.

Was it Shakespeare who’d said parting was such sweet sorrow?

If so, I found myself disagreeing.

There was nothing sweet about the hollow, empty feeling in my chest that made it uncomfortable to breathe the longer I stood in the middle of the living room.

I understood part of the nature of my distress.

This apartment had indeed been home to me for three years, and yet there was not one memento of myself or my family in evidence. The bookshelves and walls were replete with memorabilia dedicated to Mercy Haddaway, but not a single photo of me, my sister, or my parents was anywhere to be found.

Why was that?

It was because I had chosen to turn my back on them, just as they had abandoned me.

I wasn’t an orphan, yet I had preferred to act like one, resulting in a dorm apartment that held no memories or lingering attachment to my family. But it also held no attachment to Ronin Kassius either. As Tabitha had pointed out soon after her arrival, this place was a temple dedicated to Mercy Haddaway.

When I acknowledge this, my ambivalence toward staying or leaving shifted slightly in favor of a swift exit, and so I made my way to the hallway where Tabitha lingered.

As I walked past her on my way to the apartment’s door, she raised an eyebrow and asked, “You’re not going to take something? A keepsake?”

I hesitated, then shrugged my shoulders. “There’s nothing here that belongs to me.”

“True. There’s nothing here that belongs to Mirai or Isabel val Sanreal. However—”

Scowling at her, I sharply retorted, “That’s right. There’s nothing here that belongs to Mirai or Isabel, and that’s who I am now.”

The lethargy Tabitha had displayed faded quickly, and she spoke in a firm tone. “It’s true that your body is not that of Ronin Kassius. But you are the holder—the bearer—of his memories. Don’t dismiss them so easily.”

I turned away her and faced the door. “I’m not going to forget who I was. But I need to accept the way things are now.”

Tabitha sighed, and moments later I heard her walk into the bathroom. She came out after a short while, then held out something that I quickly recognized as my toothbrush. I started to laugh but stopped when I noticed the serious, stubborn expression on her face.

She held the toothbrush closer to me as though insisting that I take it.

I had a suspicion she would take it for herself if I chose not to accept it, and that didn’t sit well with me.

“Fine…,” I softly grumbled.

Watching me intently, Tabitha’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly when I hesitated for a heartbeat just before plucking the toothbrush from her palm. Though I fumbled a little when opening the unfamiliar skirt’s left zipper, I was able to slip the toothbrush inside, and then tug the zipper back up without having to drop the gym bag on the floor.

Looking at Tabitha, I gave her a curt nod and then shrugged my shoulders, wanting to shake off the mood and the moment.

“Lead the way,” I muttered unhappily at her.

She opened the apartment’s door, and then walked out into the hallway.

I followed her out, hesitating slightly as I cleared the threshold, but then missed a step when I heard the door close behind me.

The clack of the lock engaging brought a sense of finality to my time here, squeezing at my heart, and I held tightly onto the straps of the gym bag as I walked away from the dorm apartment.

It took every ounce of my willpower to not look back at the closed door.

It wasn’t until I’d rounded a bend and arrived at an elevator bank located at the southeast corner of the building that I finally began to breathe a little easier as my troubled feelings began to settle like sediment to the bottom of a dark, dank pond.

However, I soon had something else to worry over as a new problem reared its ugly head.

---

Thank you for getting this far.

This is the unpublished version of Book 3 of "Gun Princess Royale" a sci-fi, gender-bender, girls-with-guns, action series that I self-published on Amazon Kindle as eBooks in 2017. The series tanked in sales due to a bad story, very bad writing, and failing to put in the required time to develop the Gun Princess Royale Universe before releasing the books. Consequently, I never self-published Book 3. I did post a rough cut for Book 3 here on TG BigCloset. However, I was unsatisfied with the result, so I went back and rewrote the novel with a new approach. This is that novel.

Book 1 of the newly reimagined reboot of the series, The Gun Princess Royale, is available on Amazon for purchase or reading on Kindle Unlimited. More than two years of writing have gone into it. Please check it out. It's 873 pages so the sample for reading on Amazon is a whopping 87 pages.

Thank you, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages.

---

Originally, the female students of Telos Academy had been assigned to the north side of the dormitory building. To be specific, they were allotted to apartments in the northwest, north, and northeast sides of the complex. The male students were thus segregated to the southwest, south, and southeast sections of the megascraper.

However, for reasons that I don’t know, that policy was scrapped a few years ago, and during summer break, the girls and boys living in the building found themselves assigned to separate floors, rather than isolated to the north and south sides of the immense complex. Naturally, this resulted in organized bedlam as thousands of students had to pack their belongings and move to their new digs.

This happened before I joined the academy, but I’ve heard stories about how difficult it was for students to lug their belonging through the building, and though it was all supervised, and scores of mover bots had been hired to help out, it was nonetheless a monumental undertaking fraught with arguing and bickering between the harried and frustrated students of Telos Academy. And when the dust settled, guys and girls found themselves having to share the building’s many stairwells and elevators.

However, a new order quickly asserted itself, and it was the girls who made the first move.

In short, they forced a return to the old days by deciding they would only travel up and down the building using the north side of the megascraper. Those girls that didn’t agree, and who preferred to mingle with the boys, were strong armed by peer pressure, female intimidation, the threat of romantic breakups, and death by social media to force them to toe the gender line.

As for the guys, they faced the same harassment to drive them back to the south side of the complex. Hence, after all that moving around much of the previous status quo was thus unofficially re-instated. The male and female students had entirely dedicated floors, but they still travelled up and down the building in isolation from each other.

How did this work?

Simple.

A guy on the northside would have to go southside to use the stairwells and lifts.

A girl on the southside would have to venture northside to use the stairwells and lifts over there.

The great gender divide was back, albeit enforced not by law but by general consensus amongst the student body living in the apartment building, and by all accounts, it was here to stay because it took a brave boy – and a brave girl – to buck the unwritten rules. Thus, it was very, very rare to find a boy and girl walking the hallways together. Even the closest of couples eventually wilted under pressure from the girls and were forced to walk apart while inside the building.

How did this affect me now?

Rather badly.

Firstly, my former dorm apartment was on the southside of the complex.

Secondly, I was on an all-male floor. That is, there were no girls living on the thirty-fifth floor. That was fine when I was a guy, but now that I’d been drafted into the other camp, I’d effectively found myself in enemy territory.

I was Little Red Riding Hood in a forest of hungry wolves.

To make matters worse, when I tried circling northward, Tabitha nixed the idea by reminding me of dinner with Mercy.

Apparently, it wasn’t enough for me to step out wearing a girl’s high school uniform. I needed to run the proverbial gauntlet by making my way down the southside of the building. I will admit that I briefly considered travelling down the outside face of the megascraper because technically I’d still be on the southside. But I’d had my fill of jumping down floor after floor. Thus, I steeled my resolve, prayed to the Fates for mercy, and thought of another kind of Mercy dressed in a slinky Dolce Gambatta number that was fit for a red-carpet event.

Hence, Little Red Riding Hood followed Cruella de Hexaria over to a southside elevator where a handful of high school Big Bad Wolves – I mean boys – were waiting for the lift to arrive.

Did we draw attention?

Of course, we did.

Their eyes widened and their eyebrows shot to their youthful hairlines.

Then their faces darkened with suspicion as they warily checked us out.

It was easy to understand why.

From their perspective, encountering two girls on a boys-only floor could only mean entrapment. In other words, Tabitha and I were like undercover Enforcers sent on a mission to tease, tempt, and ultimately trap boys who were too weak willed to resist our feminine wiles.

Personally, I found the notion stupid.

It made more sense to think that Tabitha and I were on a pledge dare.

However, whatever these boys thought, none of it was good because they literally edged way from us. There was no attempt to chat us up, and they spoke in hushed tones amongst themselves. They probably thought I couldn’t hear them, but Mirai’s preternatural hearing caught their conversations with unsettling ease.

Unexpectedly, despite their trepidations, they were sizing up Tabitha and I with interest.

More to the point, they were sizing me up far more than Tabitha.

For starters, Mirai had a prominent bust that Tabitha lacked.

Secondly, Mirai was taller than Tabitha.

Thirdly, she had better legs, and those shapely pins were on display beneath her short skirt – a skirt that I now realized was a little shorter than it should have been.

When studying myself in the mirror, I had noticed the skirt seemed a tad short, but then I tossed it into the ‘my imagination’ basket when I compared it to the length of Tabitha’s dress. However, now that I was standing by the elevator doors, I realized that I’d been duped. Tabitha had hitched up her skirt, and then dropped it once we left the dorm apartment. Thus, while she looked prim and proper in her regulation length uniform, I ended up promoting Mirai’s long, toned legs for all the guys to see.

I sorely felt like punching Tabitha, but to be truly effective, I would need to unleash my anger upon her real body. On the other hand, venting upon her mechanical form wasn’t such a bad idea because I could pound her to my satisfaction. But instead, I clenched my hands tightly and endured the attention I was drawing, all of which was making me overwhelmingly self-conscious.

I hadn’t felt this way since cross-playing as Silver Blue a year ago. However, back then I could always escape the identity of Silver Blue. That wasn’t an option for me anymore. I was stuck as Mirai or Isabel, drawing attention like honey to a bear, and it wasn’t my imagination running rampant due to my insecurities and self-consciousness. I really was garnering interest, more so than Tabitha, and feeling the boys’ gazes crawl over my body, I was rapidly nearing my breaking point.

And then the lift arrived.

Believing I was saved, my hopes were dashed when its doors opened. The lift was already hauling passengers, and if everyone waiting for it on this floor climbed aboard, the elevator would be crammed to bursting point. Worse still, all the occupants were boys. Simply put, the situation was more than my strained psyche could handle, and so I snapped – not literally but mentally.

Whirling on the spot, I fled down the hallway, making tracks for safer ground, namely the northern half of the thirty-fifth floor. There were more high school boys along the way, something to be expected since it was now a little before 8:00 am, so they were starting their journey to Telos Academy. Again, the presence of a girl on a floor assigned to male students raised eyebrows and caused a lot of double takes, but I ducked my head and barreled past the guys who’d either slowed or stopped to stare at me.

It wasn’t long before Mirai’s magnetic sense told me I was running north down the hallway, meaning that I’d circled from the southside to the northside of the complex. Arriving at a stairwell, I rushed down the steps, pushing my way between students, their faces a blur as I descended at a reckless pace, and a short while later I finally noticed I was surrounded by girls.

I’d succeeded in achieving my goal of hiding myself amongst them like a tree in a forest.

That said, I was quite a different tree from those around me.

Mirai was a super Simulacrum while these girls were human. But on the outside, I was just like them, albeit much more of a head turner than they were.

Argh—what the HELL am I thinking? A HEAD TURNER?

Girls can be quite receptive to their environment, and it wasn’t long before several of them noticed my state of distress.

Indeed, I was distressed, and I couldn’t understand why.

It was one thing to flee from the high school guys, but now I was in proverbial safe territory, and yet I wasn’t calming down.

Instead, I was still rocketing down the stairs as though my tail was on fire.

Why was that?

Why was I feeling so panicked and frantic?

Why was my heart racing now, when mere hours ago I’d been chased by a storm of bullets down the side of a building and yet barely broken a sweat? And prior to that, I’d survived combat as a Gun Princess clad in a black and purple bodysuit that emphasized Mirai’s curves. Nor was this the first time I’d disguised myself as a female student, and just this morning I’d walked the city streets crowded with people and not experienced any anxiety to the degree that I was now, where I felt like I was drowning in a heavy surf.

What was wrong with me?

Was this an early sign of agoraphobia? Was it a side effect of mapping a male mind into a female brain? Or was something else at play?

Back in the dorm apartment, I’d wondered why I didn’t feel like I was wearing the wrong skin, so was this an indication that the gender dysphoria I had expected to suffer was manifesting under a different guise? Or was it because I was subconsciously terrified that people would see me as a guy with the appearance of a girl?

In other words, would they see me as a freak?

As my fears and insecurities tumbled through my head, I almost took a tumble myself when my right foot missed a step, causing my left foot to slip behind me. But I was saved by the girls around me, who reacted quickly and spared me from a nasty fall by grabbing onto my arms and shoulders.

“Hey? You okay?”

“Watch your step.”

“You go down, we all go down.”

They had a point.

The stairs were wide, but they were crowded and growing more so by the minute as a couple of thousand students funneled into the stairwells because there simply weren’t enough elevators to cater for them all. If I fell here, I was likely to cause an avalanche of people all the way down to street level.

Steadying myself on my two feet, I quietly nodded my thanks to the girls supporting onto me. Then I noticed one of the girls – a willowy blonde with deep blue eyes – was peering intently at me.

Abruptly, her eyes widened, and she exclaimed, “It’s you!”

The girls around her were startled by her outcry, and quickly stared at her in confusion.

I stared at her as well, my heart beating loudly after it jumped into my throat.

Had I been discovered? Did she know I wasn’t a real girl—that I wasn’t human?

My heart was still in my throat as I started breaking out in a cold sweat.

How? How the frek did she find out?

One of her companions reached out to the girl. “Hey, Sierra. What’s up with you—?”

“I can’t believe it!” The willowy blonde snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “I know you. You’re my brother’s favorite bikini girl!”

I gasped loudly and jerked back in shock, then quickly shook my head while frantically waving my hands in denial. “No, no, no! Definitely not! I’ve never worn a bikini in my life!”

That was indeed the truth.

A bra and panties, yes, but a bikini? No, sir.

However, my denial fell on deaf ears.

“Of course, you have,” the girl overruled me. “You’re that chick in his posters.”

That chick in his posters?

I stared at her, bamboozled, while the girls around her traded looks before turning their attention on me.

A brunette with a short bob nodded thoughtfully as she studied my appearance. “You know, I think she’s right. It is her.”

Sierra was nodding eagerly now. “Of course, I am. That jerk’s room is full of her stuff. Remember, I showed you what his room is like.”

Her companions began to nod in agreement.

Or was it sympathy? I couldn’t tell.

Emboldened, Sierra proudly crossed her arms. “You’re Mercy Haddaway.”

For the second time this morning, my mind snapped.

I could literally hear it breaking sharply inside my head.

As it did so, the rest of me froze and I blanked out.

For a dozen odd seconds later, I could have been knocked over with a feather.

“Holy crap,” the brunette muttered. “Mercy Haddaway in the flesh.”

My gods…they’re mistaking Mirai for Mercy.

Coming out of my stupor, I waved my hands even more frantically than before. “No, no. I’m definitely not her!”

“What? Are you blind? Haven’t you ever looked in a mirror?”

“I just look like her—I mean, I resemble her! I just resemble her!”

Sierra dismissed my hysterical attempt to repudiate her and turned to her friends. “That idiot spent his summer working just so he could spend it all on her holovid collection.”

I froze again while frowning inwardly.

Wow, talk about devoted. He’s just like me. A kindred spirit.

The brunette with the bob asked, “Didn’t he line up for hours to meet her when she was promoting something?”

“Oh, yeah—at last year’s handshaking event.”

I froze a third time.

Was her brother in line with me?

Another of Sierra’s companions, a girl with coppery red hair and green eyes, started to giggle madly. “Sierra, your brother will wet his pants knowing she’s here.”

“Hey, let’s call him,” suggested a fourth girl with dark blonde hair and amber eyes. Within a heartbeat, she’d pulled out her slim phone from a skirt pocket and called up a number, earning herself a dark frown from the brunette with the bob.

“You have his number? Karen, why do you have his number?”

“Oh…ah…well,” Karen fumbled for a reply. “Well, he—he gave it to me.”

Sierra cocked her head at the girl. “He gave it to you? Why would he give you his number?”

“Ah—well, I guess—I don’t know?”

Sierra grew suspicious. “Is there something going on between you and that dirtbag?”

Under the combined pressure from her friends, Karen began to retreat down the stairwell. “No—there’s nothing going on. Nothing to tell. Nothing at all!”

“Then why are you running away?” the redhead asked.

There was no answer from the girl. Instead, she spun on her heels and sped away with surprising agility.

Sierra stared darkly at Karen’s back before suddenly shaking herself all over like a dog. “Girls, girls”—she clapped loudly—“focus please. We’ll deal with her later.”

The brunette with the bob pointed at the fleeing girl. “Don’t you want to know what’s going on between her and your brother?”

Sierra grabbed the girl’s shoulders. “Maria, listen to me. She can run, but she can’t hide. Besides, I’ll squeeze it out of my brother. All I have to do is take his collection hostage.”

Maria grinned cruelly. “Oh, that’ll grab him by the balls.”

“Precisely.”

I knew that girls could be terrifying but watching these two was giving me chills.

Releasing Maria’s shoulders, Sierra stepped closer to me as I stood on the stairs.

Crap! I missed my chance to escape!

Folding her arms under her breasts, she appraised me from head to toes. “Mercy Haddaway. Will wonders never cease.”

Swallowing hastily, I protested anew. “I keep telling you I’m not—”

“Mercy!” A loud, bored voice called out from above. “There you are. Why did you run away?”

I jerked sharply and then hastily looked around me with wide eyes.

Mercy Haddaway is here? Why is she here—?

Then I recognized the voice from above.

Oh, no. Don’t tell me—!

I turned to look up the stairs to see Tabitha standing on a landing above me, and watching me with a languid smile on her face.

Gods damn her!

The troublesome bitch waved at me. “Mercy, what did I tell you about running away? I warned you about attracting too much attention.”

The girls on the steps weren’t the only ones that had stopped to stare at me.

It was fair to say that all nearby traffic had come to a standstill, and scores of faces were looking at me.

“Sheesh,” Tabitha sighed dramatically. “Deciding to play high school girl even at your age. What were you thinking?”

“What do you mean my age?” I cried out. “And stop calling me Mercy—huh? What? What are you doing?”

The sounds of multiple phone cameras clicking away ripped my attention away from Tabitha.

All around me, the girls were taking snaps of me.

“…that’s her…?”

“…that’s Mercy, right…?”

“…never thought I’d see her in person….”

“…why is she wearing a uniform…?”

“…wait—isn’t she a blonde…?”

“…I think she looks better as a brunette….”

“…she’s going to our school…?”

“…but I thought she was older than us….”

“…damn. She’s big….”

“…she’s bigger in real life….”

“…what a slut. Look at her skirt….”

“…that’s way shorter than allowed….”

“…someone’s going to get in trouble today….”

“…I want her legs….”

“…shut up, Christine….”

“…I want her breasts….”

“…shut up, Megan….”

Everywhere I looked, the girls of Telos Academy were taking photos while talking about me—no, about Mercy.

No….

Because of Tabitha’s meddling, I was now the center of attention on a crowded stairwell.

No, no….

I felt trapped, surrounded by dozens upon dozens of people with faces I didn’t recognize.

No, no, no—No!

I began to shiver and tremble where I stood, the incessant clicking and droning of their voices drowning out my thoughts.

Suddenly, I felt as though I’d been thrust back to a year ago.

It was the Princess Silver Blue nightmare all over again, except this time, I was being mistaken for Mercy Haddaway.

I started shaking my head at the students surrounding me.

“I—I’m not her. I’m not, Mercy. I’m not…I’m…I’m….”

The commotion swept away my denial. It didn’t help that my voice had fallen to a frail whisper.

Stumbling back, I bumped against the guardrail in the middle of the stairwell.

“…please…stop it…I’m not her….”

The gym bag I’d been carrying fell to my feet, the straps slipping off my shoulder. I was barely aware of it rolling down the stairs.

“I…I’m not her…stop it…,” I whimpered.

From within me, the urge to flee welled up, yet I couldn’t move. My legs had turned rubbery, and if not for the support from the guardrail behind me, I would have collapsed on the ground.

“…please…stop….”

My whisper was lost behind the pounding of my heart. Even the incessant click-click of camera phones was drowned out by the sound of blood rushing past my ears like a roaring, raging river.

Please…help me….

I shut my eyes.

Someone…help me….

Reaching up, I covered my ears.

Please, God. Help me—!

With a jerk, my right hand was yanked away from my head.

What?

Then I heard a boy’s voice shout into my ears.

“Isabel!”

At that moment, everything went quiet inside my head.

My pounding heart, the roaring in my ears, the sound of people around me – all of it vanished and I opened my eyes to see a tall teenage boy with sandy hair and green eyes standing before me.

“Let’s go!”

Grabbing my right hand, he pulled me along with such force that he literally lifted me off my feet.

And then he was hauling me down the stairs at a breakneck speed.

“Stay with me,” he cried out over his shoulder. “We’re going through.”

Overwhelmed by the situation, I offered him no resistance as I ran with him.

I had no idea who he was, yet I’d surrendered my fate to him without a thought.

I hadn’t even considered that perhaps I was making a mistake.

The thought, the feeling, the impression that I was in danger from him never crossed my mind…and I had no idea why.

After descending a few floors, he exited the stairwell with me in tow, then turned sharply down a wide corridor.

“This way,” he insisted, his fingers wrapped like steel around my hand.

Addled, it took me a while to realize this wasn’t the first time I’d been pulled along by a boy.

Mat had done so when he tried saving me back at the island, before the Cat Princess shot and killed the female version of Ronin Kassius.

However, Mat was someone that I knew well.

This boy was a total stranger.

So why did I feel like I knew him?

At a run, he led me to a T-intersection.

Turning right into a branching corridor, I saw a pair of wide translucent doors at the far end. Beyond the doors lay a bridgeway connecting this apartment complex to its northern neighbor. I knew this because of Mirai’s bird-like ability to sense magnetic north, thus I was able to tell our direction of travel as though I had a compass in my head.

Moving quickly, we passed through the entrance and onto the enclosed bridgeway.

I threw a frantic glance behind me, expecting to see a crowd chasing us, but the coast was clear, so to speak.

Yet we continued running, and I was still being pulled along by the unknown boy.

I looked down at his hand firmly gripping mine and was struck by an odd thought.

Why are boys’ hands so large?

But there was a marked difference between this boy’s hand and Ronin’s.

There was nothing manly about me, was there?

Because I was looking at his hand, I only glimpsed the view outside of the bridgeway’s permaglass canopy, and again that was only because of Mirai’s abnormally wide field-of-vision. Yet, the scenery of towering buildings failed to attract my attention, distracted as I was by the boy’s hand wrapped around mine. It wasn’t until we’d traversed into the adjoining building that my composure began to recover.

Arriving at a balcony encircling the megascraper’s atrium, I finally dug in my heels.

“Stop—stop! I said stop! Stop pulling me!”

Yanking hard on the hand pulling me, I dragged the boy to a stumbling halt.

Despite this, he refused to let me go.

I was shocked by the strength of his grip, and warily wondered if he was a Simulacrum. However, when I realized that I couldn’t see his lifeforce aura, my heart pole vaulted high before coming down hard within my chest.

A machine? He’s an avatar?

The boy recovered his balance and half turned around to face me. “What are you doing? We have to go.”

I started to protest forcefully when I noticed something else: blonde locks tumbling over my shoulders.

Mirai had switched back. She wasn’t in her powered-up state, which explained why I couldn’t see the boy’s lifeforce. Having grown accustomed to seeing the aura that radiated around living creatures, I felt somewhat at a loss, and could only stare up at the boy in confusion until I remembered his hand tightly holding onto mine.

I gave it another hard yank, but he held me fast.

“What’s your problem?” I snapped at him. “Let go or lose the arm.”

He stared behind me in the direction we’d been running from.

I watched his searching eyes for a second, before quickly looking over a shoulder myself.

There was no sign of any students following us, and there was no sign of Tabitha either, but was it reason enough to relax? Besides, Tabitha was using her position in Libra to track me, thus she didn’t need to run after me.

Then again, maybe she was done with me for the morning.

I felt the grip on my hand relax and swiftly took the chance to pull it free.

Glaring hard at the teenage boy, I muttered a bitter, “Thanks.”

“We need to keep going,” he said, his voice hard and cold. “Come on.”

He started turning away but stopped when he noticed that I was standing still.

“I said, come on.”

Ignoring him for the moment, I took my first good look at my mysterious savior.

Dressed in the Telos Academy summer uniform for boys that consisted of black pants, dark shoes, and a white short-sleeve shirt, he wore a white necktie marking him as a first-year high school student. From the way his uniform hung on his body, and the strong arms that stretched out from his shirt sleeves, it was easy to see he had an athletic build. If anything, I’d call it a swimmer’s body. And he was tall, at least a handful of centimeters taller than Mirai, something that I considered unusual for a first-year high school boy.

With dark sandy hair and penetrating green eyes, he had generously handsome features that were likely to give the girls around him heart palpitations. But if he was expecting to use those good looks on me, they were sorely wasted.

“Who are you?” I bluntly asked him.

His gaze searched my face for a short while before he softly asked, “Would it explain if I told you that you’re my hope?”

The moment his reply registered in my mind, I felt a cold wind blow through me, and I stumbled back a step. “Straus….”

There was a reason why I couldn’t see his lifeforce aura: he didn’t’ have one. Even if Mirai had remained in her powered-up state, there was no aura to see because he wasn’t alive.

The handsome teenage boy standing in front of me was a machine avatar, and the one operating him was Akane Straus.

The realization staggered me but also weakly angered me because I felt deceived; betrayed.

Straus glanced behind me again, then insisted, “We really need to go.”

I swallowed and shook my head while trying to get my thoughts and emotions in order. “Wait—wait a minute. I’m still dealing with this.”

“Deal with it along the way,” he suggested.

Once again, he started turning away from me, and once again he stopped when he saw me rooted to the floor, almost hyperventilating.

“Kassius?”

I shook my head swiftly at him. “No, don’t call me that.”

A complicated look washed across his face. “What do you want me to call you?”

I clenched my hands and kept them beside me as I took a deep breath. “Before…call me what you did before…in the stairwell….”

He frowned then narrowed his eyes. “You mean…?”

“Isabel…call me Isabel.”

The tall boy studied me for a second. “Are you sure?”

I swallowed hard and backed up my decision with a nod. “Just call me Isabel. Okay?” Then I jabbed a finger at him. “But what the frek do I call you?”

The boy’s face grew blank and unreadable. A short while later, he huffed to himself and then broke into a guilty smile. “Oh, right.”

I questioned him harshly. “Well? Do you have a name?”

I was feeling deceived – yet again – so I wasn’t in the best of moods, and after folding my arms under Mirai’s breasts, I smirked cruelly at him.

“Should I give you a name?” I taunted him.

“Actually, I do have a name, so don’t bother.”

“Then let’s hear it.”

“Severin,” he announced.

“What?”

“My name. Call me, Severin.” He grinned as he favored me with an informal bow. “Severin Straus, at your service.”

I pressed my lips together, feeling a rush of anger flow through me.

Ronin Kassius had swung punches before but they rarely if ever landed.

Mirai on the other hand was gifted with abnormally keen hand-to-eye coordination.

The right cross I delivered to the boy’s jaw knocked him backwards several feet and down on his ass.

I ground my teeth together at the intense pain that briefly burned through my right hand before Mirai’s preternatural healing ability kicked in. Still, I gently shook it a few times while glaring down at Severin Straus sprawled on the balcony floor.

He met my glare as he sat up. “What the Hell was that for?”

My right hand still ached as I clenched it into a fist that I threatened him with. “That’s for tricking me—you bitch!”

“Huh?” Slowly rising to his feet, Straus looked visibly taken aback.

I was on a roll, so I added for good measure, “And because you’re a pervert!”

At this, Straus bristled visibly for a beat. “I’m not a pervert. This is a disguise. Okay? It’s just a disguise to get around.”

“I can’t believe this.” I shook my head slowly and repeated, “I can’t believe this.”

“What’s so hard to believe?”

“That you’re a woman using a male avatar!” I stomped a foot. “You’re like those guys who play MMO’s as sexy female characters.”

Straus flinched, and I pointed an accusing finger at him – I mean her. “You’re the opposite side of the coin. You’re a girl playing as a male character.”

“I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing,” he – she – protested.

“Oh yeah?” I aimed my finger lower. “Is that thing anatomically correct?”

Surprisingly, Straus started to blush. “Aren’t you ashamed for asking?”

“Don’t answer a question with a question. Well? Is it?”

“I have a constitutional right to remain silent.”

“Pervert!”

“Okay—okay! It’s anatomically correct.”

“Double pervert!”

“Will you stop calling me that?”

He stepped closer to me and I retreated from him.

“Stay away from me,” I warned as I slipped into a defensive stance.

“Stop acting like an abused girlfriend,” he snapped back at me. “And keep your voice down. People will get the wrong idea.”

I bounced on the balls of my feet. “I’m saying it for your own good. With the next hit you’re going over the balcony.

Straus stopped approaching me and held up his hands in a placating manner. “Would you calm down and listen to me?”

“I have been listening to you.”

“Great. Then I don’t need to say it again, do I?”

“Say what?”

“That we need to go—”

Straus stiffened when he noticed a handful of office ladies stare at us as they walked by.

I dropped back on my heels and relaxed my stance while waiting for them to move on. However, while I kept my eyes averted, Mirai’s sharp ears caught their comment about young couples not knowing their place, but they otherwise ignored us and soon left us behind.

Feeling a tad relieved, I quickly started to resume my defensive posture but then dropped it altogether.

What the Hell am I doing? I wondered. But to Straus, I instead asked, “Why do we need to go?”

“Because we have to talk. And we’re not talking here. And”—he glanced behind me once more—“I’d like to put some distance between us and her.”

He didn’t say her name, but I knew he was referring to Tabitha.

Giving in to the urge, I also looked behind me, yet I only saw office workers and students venturing toward the shops on this floor. As for Tabitha, she wasn’t in sight, and I’ll admit that I was relieved because the Harbinger of Bad News had caused enough trouble for one morning.

After a deep breath, I turned back to face Straus, in the process folding my arms under Mirai’s hefty bosom. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”

He studied me for a moment. “Have you calmed down?”

Irritated at another non sequitur, I struggled to hold back a snarl. “I’m calm enough to hear you out, so start talking.”

He looked exasperated as he planted his hands on his hips. “Like I said, not here.”

I chose not to mention it, but even though I knew it was a woman operating that body, it was surprising to see the avatar behave just like a teenage boy, from its mannerisms all the way down to the way it walked.

Damn creepy. Damn pervert. Just how much practice has she had getting around in that body?

Straus raked his fingers through his long sandy hair. “Are you hungry?”

“Huh?” I was jolted out of my observations. “Why are you asking?”

“I thought you might want a bite to eat.”

I was indeed hungry, so I replied with a curt nod and grumbled. “Are you buying?”

“I’m offering, aren’t I?” He pointed at himself. “Besides, I’m the guy here so I should be paying.”

I snorted under my breath. “In case you missed the news flash, it’s the age of gender equality.”

“Good chivalry never dies young,” he proclaimed.

“What’s with the twisted quotes?”

“Fine, then you buy breakfast.”

I unfolded my arms angrily. “Hey, what happened to chivalry just now?”

Straus clenched his jaw, a gesture that unsettled me because I knew his body wasn’t human. It reminded me of Tabitha’s body, and so I briefly pondered if it was made along the same lines, that is, a mechanical body designed with stealth and infiltration in mind.

Venting a loud breath, Straus shook his head. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. We’ll split the bill. Happy now?”

“Yeah, I’m happy—” I stopped cold when I realized something that made my stomach sink. “Oh, no….”

Straus frowned at me. “What is it now?

Frantically, I patted the pockets of my skirt, then slowly grabbed my head with both hands and swore.

“Frek!”

Straus looked alarmed. He hurried up to me, grabbed my shoulders, and then gave me a forceful shake. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? You’re not having another panic attack, are you?”

I stared up at him in dread. “My phone. My cash card. Shit! I left them behind.”

“Behind? Behind where?”

“In the bag! The gym bag!” A memory flashed before my eyes – a vision of the bag tumbling down the stairs. “Oh, no. I dropped it down the stairwell.”

Straus exhaled heavily. “How much money was on that card?”

“About, four thousand dorans…I think.”

He released another heavy breath. “Well, whoever finds it is in for a lucky break.”

A burst of fury rushed through me, and I shoved Straus away from me. “That’s my money. And my phone! My new flip-top phone! Argh!”

I stomped around in a circle, then stopped to face the bridgeway entrance leading back to the dorm building.

“I’m going back,” I decided. “I’m going back to get my bag, my clothes, my phone, and my money!”

However, before I could take a step, Straus grabbed onto my arms to hold me back.

“Like Hell you are,” he proclaimed. “Forget about it. You want a new phone, just ask for one. You want money? Isabel is frekking rich! So, come on. We have to go. And that’s the wrong direction.”

I was ready to struggle until I noticed more people glancing at me. But it pained me – no, it burned me – to leave my belongings in the hands of someone who was unlikely to return them to their proper owner – me!

I didn’t even password protect my phone.

Could I be more negligent?

“Argh!”

With a loud cry, I shrugged off Straus’s hold on me, but I had to summon a great deal of Mirai’s abnormal strength to free myself, and the motion sent Straus staggering back a few feet. Spinning around to face him, I stared daggers at him for a long while, frustrated to the point of tears.

Wisely, he silently waited for me to calm down.

However, it turned into a long wait as I struggled to get a grip on my flaming emotions.

Eventually, I muttered bitterly between clenched teeth. “I liked that phone. It was my first flip-top phone….”

Yet, deep down, I understood that losing my belongings wasn’t what I truly regretted.

Rather, I resented being rescued like a damsel in distress by a young woman cross-playing as a guy.

Straus sighed deeply, shook his head, then turned his back to me. He walked away along the balcony for a short distance but slowed down to regard me over a shoulder.

“Breakfast is on me. Are you coming?”

Did he have to rub it in?

“I’m not going to owe you for this,” I told him. “I’ll pay you back. You hear me?”

Straus rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Well, are you coming or not? Did you twist an ankle? Do you want me to carry you?”

I strode toward him with a scowl on my face. “Do you want to get punched again?”

“I pity the guy that falls for you,” Straus muttered as he – that is she – resumed walking along the balcony encircling the building’s atrium.

“And I pity the girl that falls for a fraud like you!”

He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets as he continued walking. “Better to live a lie than to not live at all.”

I can’t explain why hearing him twist the famous quote angered me so much, but before I knew it, I’d raced up to him and kicked him in the middle of the back.

Straus stumbled, fell, and came to a stop several feet away.

I watched in satisfaction as he landed flat on his chest. “Stop twisting other people’s words.”

He lay still for a second or two, before slowly picking himself up again. Once on his feet, he half turned on his heels to give me a dark withering look.

“Would you stop hitting me!”

I crossed my arms and glowered back at him. “And it’s better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all. Get it right.”

Later I would learn that I’d incorrectly recited the quote, but that’s a moot point for now.

My version was still closer to the original than his was.

Yet again shoving his hands into his trouser pockets, the mechanical avatar calling itself Severin Straus rolled its shoulders, cracked its neck, then shot me a heated look.

It was truly unnerving to see a machine glare at me so well.

“Like I said before…I pity the guy that falls for you.”

 

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Thank you for getting this far.

Book 1 of the newly reimagined & rebooted series, The Gun Princess Royale, is available on Amazon for purchase or reading on Kindle Unlimited. More than two years of writing have gone into it. Please check it out. It's 873 pages so the sample for reading on Amazon is a whopping 87 pages.

A Happy 2024 to all of you.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages.

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– I –

 

Trailing behind Straus, I followed him – I mean, her – oh, whatever – out of the massive commercial and residential building, otherwise known as an officetel, via a bridgeway some five floors above street level.

Continuing southward, we crossed into an adjacent megascraper, then descended five sets of escalators to arrive at ground floor, eventually exiting out onto a sidewalk running parallel to a six -lane street packed with the morning’s commuter traffic.

After reluctantly asking Straus where we were going, he muttered something about a pancake shop and pointed across the street at an establishment with the name, The Hardboiled Café, written in an austere font across its storefront windows.

“Huh…?”

With a name like that I wondered what kind of café it was. However, since it was only a stone’s throw away, I wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

Or so I thought….

Arriving at an intersection, I waited to cross the busy street along with a few dozen other people. Before long, the sidewalk became overly crowded and I was propelled into Straus by a businessman – a salaryman – who didn’t even bother to apologize when he shoved me aside.

I snorted and sourly thought, Girls really have it tough.

Just because they couldn’t defend themselves, that wasn’t a reason to walk over them. Then again, I’d recently discovered that some girls could defend themselves quite well, though two of them were Simulacra and one was a martial arts prodigy.

I found myself clenching a fist as I glared acidly at the salaryman who’d pushed me aside.

However, my acidity spiked when Straus moved to shield me from the people around me, including the aforementioned salaryman cruising for a bruising.

“What are you glaring at?” Straus whispered loudly.

“I was glaring at him, but now I’m glaring at you,” I growled back.

“Care to explain why?”

“I’ll explain when you explain what you’re doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he retorted.

“It looks like you’re getting in my way.”

“No, I’m saving you from getting arrested for beating someone up.”

“If I beat someone up it’s because they had it coming.”

Straus inhaled long and loudly before raising his hands in surrender. “Okay. You want to get bumped, be my guest. You want to get arrested—don’t claim I didn’t warn you.”

I sneered up at him. “No, I’d prefer you get run over.”

Straus lowered his hands. “That’s a really cruel thing to say.”

“It would be if you were human but you’re a fake,” I reproached him. “These days I seem to be surrounded by fakes. Hey, even I’m a fake—oomph!”

Straus clamped a large boyish hand over my mouth, shutting me up in the blink of an eye. Then he leaned hastily toward me to heatedly whisper, “Could you not announce it to the world?”

It wasn’t the shock of having my mouth palmed that left me speechless.

Nor was it his hand plastered over my mouth that stifled the retort in my throat.

No. It was finding myself face-to-face, and in very close proximity, with a very human looking boy that was actually a remote-controlled mechanical avatar.

It was just too much for me to bear, and a soft, pitiful whine piped up from my throat.

Straus blinked and looked faintly startled. “Hey, are you all right—?”

I snapped.

Again.

I know it sounds strange after having spent time in the presence of Simulacra, a Gun Princess, and having fought off a Gun Queen, but for some reason that I couldn’t pin down, I couldn’t cope with Straus’s presence. Something about knowing that the teenage boy inches away from me wasn’t real set my hairs on end and made my skin crawl.

Imagine encountering your worst phobia, and then double – no, triple – the resulting anxiety.

Hence, it’s only natural that I lost it.

With my right hand clenched into a fist, I unleashed a piledriving punch that caught Straus under his chin. But seeing Straus fly back several feet and then land supine on the sidewalk pavement, I realized in horror just how hard I’d hit him. Had he been a human teenage boy, there was no doubt my punch would have broken his neck and killed him. That blunt realization had me trembling like a leaf and I looked down at my discolored right hand that was balled into a bruised fist. It burned in agony for a handful of seconds before the Angel Fibers and my ultra-grade Simulacrum body mended the damage I’d incurred.

As the burning sensation faded to a dull throbbing, I flexed the fingers of my hand, both amazed and frightened by how quickly it had healed.

By then Straus was sitting up unsteadily.

Not knowing what it was like to operate a mechanical avatar, I assumed that I’d knocked the avatar’s senses or sensors into disarray because Straus swayed woozily as he clutched his jaw.

Yet regardless of how hard I’d hit him, Straus was a machine while I was made of flesh and blood. Thus, I didn’t believe he’d suffered any damage. But the two salarymen in suits that came to his assistance didn’t know any better.

They helped him up and Straus thanked them.

When one of them suggested going to the hospital, Straus shook his head and allayed the man’s concerns with a grin.

The other man suggested he call the authorities, but again Straus brushed it aside with a grin.

Then he said something in a low voice while looking sheepish, and the two men backed off.

One of them slapped Straus’s back and muttered something about treating his girlfriend better.

It was then that I noticed the mixed looks I was garnering from the pedestrians surrounding us.

Expressions of shock and disbelief, as well as many reproachful stares, were directed at me.

More than a few people were muttering deriding remarks, and I heard phone cameras click away, but no one dared come close to me. After watching me knock Straus to the ground with a single punch, they instinctively saw me as bad news. Perhaps they subconsciously recognized me as a predator, a lioness amongst antelopes, a shark amongst minnows, a hawk amongst pigeons.

Regardless, they watched me, they muttered, but they kept their distance.

And though I was quite aware of them, I chose to ignore them and instead focused on gathering up my scattered emotions.

Straus bowed politely to the two salarymen, then quickly walked up to me.

Keeping his voice low, he stopped well short of leaning down at me as he spoke in a hushed, guttural tone. “Do you know how close you came to being arrested? What the Hell is wrong with you?”

I noisily sucked in air through my nose, then reflexively clenched my hands as I harshly whispered back, “You freak me out!”

Straus’s eyes widened before narrowing. “You didn’t have a problem with me before.”

She – I mean he – no, I mean she – was right.

I didn’t have a problem with her when she was operating the Cat Princess, but I was having a severe phobic reaction to her pretty boy avatar.

Was it some kind of twisted fear of machines that resembled good looking teenage boys?

Was I experiencing an andro-mechano-phobia?

Abruptly, I gasped both inwardly and outwardly as I recognized a new problem.

What the Hell had I been thinking?

Had I really considered the machine boy as a pretty boy?

Was that also part of my phobic reaction to him?

I swallowed hard and then took a couple of deep, unsteady breaths as I struggled to rationalize my adverse emotional response to Severin Straus who was staring at me impatiently.

“Well?” he ground out through clenched teeth. “Why do you have a problem with me now?”

My breathing and my heart gradually calmed down. When I felt steady enough to give him an answer, I replied in a low whisper, “You really wanna know why?”

“A straight answer would be appreciated.”

“Because back then you weren’t giving cross-play a whole new meaning.”

Straus grew still for a long moment before venting a loud breath, just like a very real and very frustrated teenage boy. However, before he could say anything, the pedestrian light behind me began to play a chime and I recognized it for the ‘walk’ melody.

“Come on,” Straus growled and stepped out onto the street along with a hundred other pedestrians.

The people that had been avoiding me now swept me along with them, so I didn’t have much of a choice but to follow Straus across the street.

Arriving at the opposite sidewalk, I looked around to regain my bearings as the crowd rushed by me. Being a good twenty centimeters taller than I was accustomed to, I was able to spot the sign for the Hardboiled Café above the heads of the people surging past me. But I’d lost sight of Straus, so I decided to walk up to the café’s entrance. I was almost at the door when I saw him standing there anxiously searching for me.

At sight of me, he looked relieved then quickly annoyed.

Shaking his head, he yanked open the café’s door and stepped inside.

“Thanks for waiting for me,” I muttered acidly as I caught the door before it closed shut in my face. “Asshole couldn’t even hold the door open for me.”

If she was going to pass herself off as a guy, then she could remember to treat a girl better.

Who cares about gender equality?

Good manners beget good manners.

I made it a mental note to etch that into Straus’s metal skull, then realized with a stark chill that I was expecting Straus to treat me like a girl.

That brought me to a sharp standstill within the entrance to The Hardboiled Café.

When the heavy door closed behind me, it bumped my backside, propelling me deeper into the establishment and jolting my various trains of thought back into motion.

However, the question remained unanswered – did I want Straus to treat me like a girl?

It was true that men held the door open for other men out of politeness as well, but it was something of an expected common courtesy that men treat the fairer sex with respect.

Maybe Straus hadn’t treated me like a girl because I was a girl.

In other words, being a girl herself, Straus had felt she didn’t need to afford me any special courtesy and had treated me like an equal. She could also have been pissed at being punched in public. But as a consequence, and perhaps because I misread the situation, I was forced to face the broader question of whether I wanted people to treat me like a girl.

And I had no answer for it.

On the one hand the notion repulsed me. I had lived for years fearing that one day I would turn into a girl, and now I found myself living as one – albeit as a girl that possessed extraordinary abilities. However, I understood that whether I was treated as a girl wasn’t entirely up to me, because leaving Straus aside, if people saw me as a girl then they would naturally treat me as one.

So then the question was what should I expect from them?

I’d read about how girls and women often complained of getting the short end of the stick, so should I expect the same?

Standing in the small foyer, Straus grumbled at me, “Took you long enough.”

I stopped and stared at him.

Was being treated fairly, equally, with common decency, and respect too much to ask for?

I decided to reply to Straus in a manner that I felt was justified under present circumstances.

“Up yours,” I swore at him and gave him the finger.

Then I wondered, Is that even possible for him?

A second later, I made two important observations.

Being preoccupied with Straus, and questioning how I expected people to treat me, had pushed my andro-mechano-phobia into a back seat.

That was good.

What wasn’t so good was that I was still giving Straus the finger when a young waitress – a pretty, brunette with shoulder length hair – came to greet us.

The girl looked at Straus, at me, then my finger, before asking with a troubled smile, “Um…table for two?”

Feeling distinctly ashamed, I lowered my finger and then hid my hands behind my back.

Straus made a show of sounding disappointed in me. “Yes, please. Table for two….”

His tone made me seethe at him.

Bastard, don’t blame this on me! This is your fault!

Nonetheless, I admitted that I’d slipped up. Thus, I trailed silently behind him as the waitress guided us deeper into the café to a booth that lacked a window view.

I sat down somewhat dejectedly on the booth seat across the table from Straus.

When the girl took our order, Straus took the lead and ordered for the both of us. At that, I threw him an icy glare that he pointedly ignored as he slouched with an arm draped casually over his seat’s backrest, and confidently dictated our breakfast order to the young waitress.

Watching him through narrowed eyes, I once again wondered how long Straus had been practicing passing herself off as a teenage boy. And then I was annoyed by how natural and cool he looked, and I realized with a pang that the Ronin Kassius part of me envied him.

Straus looked the way I would have wanted to appear to a girl.

Cool, calm, collected, with an air of unbridled confidence.

Even though my envy was misplaced, my emotions swirled painfully within my chest because I knew that I would never be seen that way by a girl. There was no going back for me and knowing that made my heart twist unpleasantly in my chest. However, back at the dorm apartment I’d resolved to start accepting who I was now, and part of that involved facing situations like this no matter how difficult they may be.

In other words, no retreat and no surrender.

Sitting stiffly, I clenched my hands under the table, then relaxed them. After a few slow, deep breaths, I gradually loosened my ramrod posture, until I glanced up and saw the girl blushing pink as she jotted down the breakfast order. My mouth fell open, and when I closed it shut with an audible clack, the pretty waitress noticed and visibly blanched at me.

It took a moment for me to understand why she’d paled.

It was because I was glaring at her.

However, I wasn’t staring at her fiercely because I was being territorial. Rather, it was because I couldn’t believe how easily she’d been charmed by Straus’s male avatar.

Afraid to look at me, she smiled sheepishly at Straus, jotted down the last of the order and hurried away.

Watching her retreat to the kitchen, I realized Straus had been expecting her to dart a glance over her shoulder, because he delivered a perfectly timed wave to the girl’s furtive look.

Infuriated, I kicked one of his shins hard under the table.

To my surprise, Straus winced sharply as though experiencing the kick for real.

“What are you doing?” he complained in a low, strangled hiss that proved the kick had hurt him.

“I could ask you the same question,” I snapped at him without remorse.

“I was having a little fun.”

My mouth dropped open again. “Are you serious?”

“Of course, I’m serious.”

I shook my head at him aghast. “You’re unbelievable.”

Straus looked equally annoyed at me. “You’re one to talk.”

“Heh? What the Hell do you mean by that?”

“What? You didn’t notice the way men were looking at you out on the street?”

“Looking at me? You mean after I decked you?”

Straus blinked in confusion that matched mine. “No, I mean before that.”

“Then I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Again, he blinked at me as though perplexed. “How oblivious are you?”

I winced, then retorted, “I’m not oblivious. I was just having trouble dealing with you, so I had other things on my mind.”

“Then you didn’t notice how she felt challenged by you?”

Startled by his question, I drew back. “What are you talking about? Weren’t you asking me about how men were looking at me?”

“I was. Now I’m asking about her reaction to you.”

I bit my lower lip for a moment, then admitted, “No, I didn’t.”

“Then take a look,” Straus suggested.

I pouted in consternation, and then looked over at the counter separating the kitchen from the rest of the establishment. Coincidently, the young waitress happened to be staring in our direction. When our eyes met, the girl grew ashen in a heartbeat then ducked her head quickly. Conveniently for her, a couple of salarymen happened to enter the café moments later, and she hurried off to welcome them.

Although she had caught me glaring at her earlier, I was still confused by the frightened look on her face.

I turned to Straus. “What’s her problem?”

His eyes widened before he shook his head slowly in apparent disbelief.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” he said in a low voice. “You may be new to being a girl, but you sure know how to scare away the competition.”

My feelings went from confused to sour in an instant. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”

“And why is she the competition?”

Straus snorted softly. “Having said that, you can be surprisingly obtuse.”

“Just answer the damn question.”

This time he sighed. “To you, she’s not competition. But from her point of view, you definitely are the competition.”

“And why the Hell would she see me that way?”

“Because I’ve been coming here a few times, striking up a little friendly conversation with her in the mornings.”

The absurdity of what he’d just told me made my vision swim, and I slumped back in my seat. “Oh my gods, you’ve been hitting on her….”

“I prefer to call it testing the boundaries.”

“…of what….”

“Of how convincingly I can operate this avatar.”

Still slumped, I stared at him vacantly for a while. “Why?”

Straus shrugged a shoulder. “That’s a secret.”

“Yeah, don’t tell me. I don’t think I can handle it on an empty stomach.”

A chuckle escaped from him, briefly triggering my andro-mechano-phobia – yes, I was convinced by now that I suffered from said phobia.

Desperately seeking a distraction, I turned my attention to the interior of the café.

Fortunately, it genuinely caught my interest and I found myself intently studying the various images of men and women captured in numerous photos, posters, and murals plastered throughout the innards of the café. I belatedly realized many of the photos depicted movie scenes in which most of the men wore trench coats while the women were attired in long form fitting dresses that emphasized their feminine charm. Some of the women were depicted as smoking from long cigarette holders while reclining on sofas. I found it puzzling to see those pictures in a commercial establishment such as this café because smoking died out as a widespread public habit a long time ago, though it was still something of an expensive private pastime.

However, I felt I understood the café’s theme.

“Hardboiled…I get it now.”

“Really?” Straus asked in a faintly snide tone, as he slouched in his seat, his arm annoying draped over its backrest.

“Well, I didn’t think hardboiled eggs had anything to do with it,” I replied just as snidely.

“And here I thought you only had Mercy on your mind.”

“If I had nothing but Mercy up here”—I tapped my forehead—“I wouldn’t have scored tenth place in my grade last year.”

“And yet you only qualified for the Delta Tier.”

I pressed my lips together as I exhaled loudly through my nose. “That’s because my brain isn’t malleable enough. But I’m not stupid.”

“Maybe not, but you’ve got a rock in there instead of clay.”

I ground my teeth together and started to flip Straus the bird. But remembering my earlier faux pas, I restrained myself to a harshly whispered, “Frek you.”

Straus snorted. “No thanks. You’re not my type.”

I flinched but not because I felt insulted. Rather, I was startled. “Your type? What? You have a type?”

Straus huffed under his breath. “Every girl has her type.”

I stared blankly at him for a second. “Every girl has her guy type? Or every girl has her girl type? So, which is it?”

Straus cocked his head at me in slowly spreading confusion. “What exactly are you asking?”

After mulling the question for a moment, and sparing the pretty waitress a glance, I decided to bluntly ask, “Are you a lesbian?”

His mouth fell open and stayed open for a long while. “Why the Hell would you ask something like that?”

I jerked my chin at the waitress busy greeting another batch of patrons. “Because you were watching her ass as she walked away.”

That was a lie, something I spouted on a whim, probably because I wanted to get a reaction out of Straus, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Straus slapped a hand loudly on the table and hissed, “I am not a lesbian.”

“Then what are you? Bisexual?”

Straus clamped his mouth shut for a long moment before sitting back and crossing his arms. “No. I’m not.”

“Are you a virgin?” I asked bluntly.

Straus looked shocked then regarded me with a simmering glare. “Mind your own business.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’.”

For a moment, I thought Straus might actually strike me. It was odd that a machine could express such a frightful expression, but I can recognize true anger when I see it, and Straus looked unmistakably angry before turning away to look into the café rather than at me.

Hmm…I struck a nerve.

I thought back to the Akane Straus that had emerged from the Sarcophagus that inexplicably materialized above the apartment’s spacious balcony. The young woman I saw back then could barely push herself up off the ground. I acknowledge that my way of thinking may offend some people, but I couldn’t imagine her enjoying a physical relationship with anyone if she was afflicted with such a debilitating disease. Then again, I knew very little about Akane Straus so perhaps the disease didn’t hamper her life until recently.

But a relationship isn’t a solo experience.

It requires two to tango, and thereby two people to make it work.

This is where my low opinion of people darkened my outlook on Akane Straus’s chances of finding love.

Whether it’s part of my nature, or a trait carved into me by life’s experiences, I have difficulty seeing the good in people – both men and women. Recent events and my present circumstances have done nothing to change that. Thus, when I thought of Akane finding Mister Right, someone who would accept her and love her for who she was regardless of her disability, I equated it to finding a needle in a haystack.

It wasn’t impossible, but it would be extremely challenging.

Of course, the proverb falls apart if you introduce a superconducting magnet or metal detector to find the needle, but surely you understand my point.

I’m not saying there wasn’t someone out there for her.

I’m simply saying finding that someone would be difficult.

“When did it start?” The question left my lips before I could stop it.

Straus looked faintly puzzled, shedding some of the anger she’d been silently radiating.

“Your muscular dystrophy…when did it start?” I asked her, my voice and feelings subdued by that memory of her on the balcony. “Was it long ago…?”

“My last year of high school,” Straus replied in a flat tone that was surprising because he regarded me with uncertainty and very little anger, as though he was trying to figure out why I was asking. “Nine years ago.”

Nine years, I thought to myself. “Did you know Erina back then?”

Straus’s uncertainty grew but then he exhaled loudly and sat back a little deeper in the booth’s high-backed seat. “She and I attended Telos Academy. We weren’t classmates, but we were in the same year. She was the star student, and I was the star of the Track-and-Field team. As friends, we were an odd couple.”

I frowned inwardly.

If they were friends in high school, I was tempted to ask if Straus knew of me back then.

Did she know Erina had a younger brother?

But then I decided it didn’t matter. In a way, it was something of a redundant question now.

Dismissing it, I preferred to ask, “You were a Track-and-Field star?”

“My times in the inter-state competitions were good enough to earn me silver—twice. But in my third year…well…shit happens….”

Straus turned away. His tone had been flat, but there was a bitter look on his face.

“You dropped out of Track-and-Field in your third year?” I asked.

“Nope. I continued running to the bitter end, but I failed to qualify for the inter-state championships in my senior year. I’d lost my edge. I wasn’t the Sprint Queen of Telos Academy any longer.” His lips twisted in resentment. “When life deals you lemons, you can’t always make lemonade no matter how much you try.”

I waited for a little while, to see if he would continue on his own. When he didn’t, I gave him a little push. “So what did you do?”

Straus was silent for a short while. “You really want to know?”

I nodded.

He took a deep breath that made his shoulders rise and fall. “I went into a treatment program and underwent therapy. The docs told me I had ten years at best.” I watched him clench his jaw for a telling moment. “That was hard to take.” Straus laughed stiffly. “But Erina took it harder still. She was already doing research into motor neuron disease disorders and a whole lot of other shit, including Prometheus’s Curse. She just added my problem to the long list she had. Eventually, she whittled down her list to just two problems – yours and mine.”

Straus’s blue eyes held my gaze.

“By then she was working for the Telos Corporation, and they’d pulled her into their dark depths. And that was because of him.”

“Him…?” I tipped my head at Straus. “Who is him?”

“Simon val Sanreal. The lord and master of the Telos Corporation. Eldest son of the Sanreal Family. And he’s your sister’s fiancé.”

I blinked slowly as I digested this tidbit of information. “Her fiancé?”

“That’s right, little girl. Your sister is engaged to one of the richest, most eligible bachelors in the known galaxy.”

“So she went for the money,” I muttered sourly. “That’s just like her….”

“Actually, you ignorant twit, your sister was relentlessly pursued by Simon Sanreal for almost two years before she finally caved in and accepted his marriage proposal.”

I expressed a puzzled frown at Straus. “She was being chased around?”

He looked annoyed at me. “Are you paying attention or not?”

“I am paying attention. But you’re telling it thick and fast.”

“Then start keeping up.”

I almost retorted reflexively but held myself back at the last heartbeat. “Fine. Care to explain in a little more detail?”

“Simon val Sanreal expressed a surprising amount of interest in your sister. For some reason she just happened to be his type.” Straus folded his arms across his chest. “Still with me so far, little girl?”

I’d ignored her the first time she called me that, but this time I bristled. “Don’t call me that.”

“Then don’t call me kitten,” Straus snapped. “Agreed?”

I really felt like throwing something at him, but instead I just gnashed my teeth a little. “”If you’re not going to explain”—I placed my hands on the table—“then I’m leaving.”

“Like I said already, he pursued her romantically for almost two years before she caved in and agreed to marry him. By then she’d already been working at the Telos Corporation for four years, and she was a member of one of their black research divisions for two years. And that was his doing. At first, he was interested in just her – probably saw her as a worthy challenge – but then he grew interested in her research as well. It wasn’t long afterwards that Erina was transferred into a clandestine division conducting sensitive research.”

“Sensitive? You mean…the Angel Fibers.”

Straus snorted as he nodded. “He pulled her into the dark side of science.”

The dark side of science? Is that an understatement or an overstatement?

But that begged the question: how should Project Mirai be viewed?

It was my understanding there were a lot of checkboxes to tick when conducting scientific research. By that, I’m saying there are rules and regulations on how it should be ethically, safely, and morally carried out. When taken into context with everything that had happened to me, I had trouble imagining that Project Mirai would have ever received government approval. It was undoubtedly made possible because Erina’s black research division wasn’t conducting itself in a sanctioned manner.

In other words, quite a few checkboxes had been skipped over or left unticked because to Erina the ends justified the means.

And now Project Mirai was sitting in a café waiting for breakfast to be delivered.

Project Mirai was also guilty of illegally entering a schoolboy’s apartment.

Project Mirai had been mistaken for a goddess—I mean, idol.

Project Mirai had jumped down a building and ridden atop a speeding maglev through the city.

Project Mirai had most recently caused a scene by punching a boy to the ground.

And Project Mirai had scared away a hapless waitress.

Indeed, Project Mirai was building up quite the rap sheet of crimes and misdemeanors.

When I thought of Project Mirai that way, I was reminded of those holovid movies where the protagonist is the product of illicit research. They escape from a secret lab, then find themselves in a town or city full of unsuspecting humans. Before long, the bad guys would come after the escaped research project, and it wasn’t always a happy ending for them.

I looked down at my right hand.

The bruising it had suffered when I’d punched Straus to the ground was gone.

Like in those holovid movies, I was in a city of blissfully unaware humans, so was I headed for bad ending too?

My thoughts and fears must have been written on my face because Straus was looking at me intently.

I cleared my throat and tried to relax my features before asking, “How do you know all this? I mean how long have you been a part of this?”

At first Straus looked ready to fire back an answer, but he stopped and seemed to give his reply a little more thought. “How long have I been involved…?”

I gave him a nod.

“Do you mean to ask, how long have I been a part of Project Mirai?”

“How long have you known about the Angel Fibers? About Mirai? About the other universe?”

He sighed loudly. “Ever since Erina pulled me into her world. Ever since she began working for their black division.”

I was puzzled. “Why?”

“Because I became her test subject. She used their biomedical research labs to try all sorts of various things to keep me alive. But things didn’t look up for me until your sister shoved the Angel Fibers she’d cultivated into my body. Yeah, she came close to killing me—the closest anyone has come—but it stopped my muscular dystrophy. It didn’t make it any better, but it didn’t make it any worse, and best of all I was still alive.”

Straus leaned toward me over the edge of the table.

“Do you know what that meant to me? Knowing that I wasn’t getting any worse? Knowing that I wasn’t going to die?”

I had no idea, but I wasn’t going to lie to her, so I shook my head slowly.

Straus sat back. “Erina and I have had our share of differences over the years, but I owe her. She saved my life. And she opened a new world to me. The world of the Gun Princess Royale avatars.” He pointed at himself. “Without them, without this technology, I’d be an invalid in a wheelchair living a confined life.”

“But you still are,” I pointed out.

He shrugged a shoulder while nodding. “I’m aware of that. I’m not denying it. But without one of these, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this freedom.”

I stared down at the table between us.

I understood Straus’s point-of-view, and I wasn’t going to begrudge her the freedom and mobility the machine avatars granted her.

To be honest, I didn’t entirely dislike her. What I had was a grudge against her. I resented her over our physically violent encounters. I also resented that I had yet to win against her.

I thought back to the woman I’d seen lying on the apartment’s balcony.

I did the math in my head.

Straus was the same age as Erina, and Erina was eleven years older than me. That was one of the big reasons our parents left her in charge when they abandoned us for the sake of their research.

They trusted her to look after me.

Erina had graduated from high school and commenced third tier education at age nineteen. Her studies were funded by the Telos Corporation. In other words, she’d earned herself a scholarship from them, and they pulled her into the fold when she graduated five years later after studying a range of sciences that only an Alpha had the mental propensity to accomplish. And to top it off, she completed her four-year doctorate in three.

She really is special, I grudgingly acknowledged.

Yet I felt no pride in being related to her, although that was only in my former life as Ronin Kassius.

I exhaled long yet softly.

Erina was twenty-four when she started working for them.

I swallowed quietly.

Or was she working for them before then? Was the scholarship all part of it? Did they see something in her while she was still a high school student?

“If you keep frowning like that, you’ll get wrinkles,” Straus remarked.

Lost in thought, I looked up at him nonplussed. “What wrinkles?”

He regarded me thoughtfully for a long moment. “You need to talk to your sister.”

I snorted unhappily. “I spoke to her this morning…on the phone…the phone that I’ve now lost.”

He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Then explain yourself better.”

Sitting up on the bench seat, Straus once again leaned toward me. “No, I mean really talk to her.”

Understanding what he meant, I clenched my hands under the table. “It’s not that easy for me.”

He closed his eyes for a second, opened them, then nodded weakly. “I know that. But it’s important. Very important.”

I ground my molars together as frustration with Straus – and Erina – threatened to overwhelm me. It wasn’t easy to think straight, especially when I was close to seeing red…until I started to wonder why it was so important that I talk to Erina.

As I pondered the problem, I calmed down a little and started seeing things clearer.

My conversation with Tabitha back in dorm apartment came to mind.

With a frown, I asked, “Is this about what Tabitha told me?”

Straus hesitated before replying, but he was interrupted by the waitress arriving with our breakfast order on a tray that she wielded deftly on an upturned palm.

I refrained from glaring at her and sat quietly as she placed cups and plates on the table before us.

When she departed, I gave her back a cool look that I then fixed upon Straus.

“Tell me what’s going.”

 

– II –

 

Staring at me intently, Straus folded his arms on the table as he continued leaning toward me.

“I don’t know what you and Hexaria talked about in that room. In fact, none of us know. Not me. Not Erina. Not Renew. And not the team assigned to watch over you. When they tried to spy on you, they encountered a Conquistador Class Awareness the blocking the view—an Awareness working for Libra. And Libra is a puppet of House Cardinal, a rival to House Novis. So you can imagine the kind of warning bells that set off.”

I could indeed, thus I replied with a shallow nod.

Straus pressed on. “The only reason they didn’t pull you out of there when Hexaria showed up at your door was because Revenant assured us that you were safe. And if anything happened, he would summon your Sarcophagus, drag you inside, and transport you to safety.” Straus tapped the table hard. “But the fact that nobody expected Hexaria to show up—the fact that you kept your rendezvous a secret—took everyone by surprise.”

“I had a good reason to keep it a secret.”

Straus was still for a second before asking, “What reason?”

I shook my head firmly. “That’s between me and Tabitha.”

He exhaled unhappily at my answer. “She called you while you were at Ar Telica Tower, didn’t she?”

Damn it. She knows about that?

Straus insisted on an answer. “Well? Did she?”

“When I spoke to her on the phone, I didn’t know who she was.”

Unexpectedly, that made him laugh. “Everyone thought it was Revenant talking to you on the phone. He’s done that before so Renew, the security team, Erina—everyone thought you were talking to him.” He laughed again. “That bitch pulled the wool right over our eyes.” He gave me an accusing look. “And so did you.”

“Like I said, I had a good reason to keep it a secret.”

“Well, keeping it a secret almost caused a meltdown between Erina, Renew, Sanreal, and the security team.”

“Why is that?”

Straus seemed surprise that I would ask. “Don’t you remember what Erina told you about the trans-location process?”

“I remember what she said.”

“Really?” he scoffed, then picked up two empty glasses on the table that he set down a few inches apart. “To translocate, you need a homing beacon for the source and the destination. Taura Hexaria’s body is the source. It’s a machine avatar with enough internal space and power for the beacon. It’s how she jumps around from place to place.”

I was surprised to hear this. “Her body can translocate?”

“Remember the Zombie Apocalypse you were thrown into?”

I nodded.

Straus tapped one of the glasses. “Hexaria was using a mechanical body back then. And that body could translocate because it contained a source beacon. All she had to do was pick a destination and the system would move her from one place to the next. That’s how she escaped the Zombies in the library. And that’s how she got into the dormitory building this morning. House Cardinal planted a destination beacon in the residential complex, and she used it to translocate into the floor above you.”

I realized where the conversation was going. “You thought Tabitha was going to kidnap me.”

He huffed. “I’m not the only one who thought that. You should have seen the faces on Erina and Pearson when Hexaria showed up at your door. And Simon val Sanreal was a heartbeat away from ordering Renew and her people to storm the building.”

“So why didn’t you pull me out?”

“Because Revenant kept telling us that you were safe. Even after Hexaria’s entrance, he insisted the situation was under control.” Straus paused for a breath. “But Revenant wasn’t telling anyone what was happening in there. He said it was private between you and Hexaria, and no amount of threatening him was making him spill the beans. So eventually they ran out of patience, and the decision was made to get you out of there. At that point, I volunteered to go in.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You volunteered? What about Renew? Why wasn’t she sent in?”

He shook head slowly. “I don’t know. But when the call came, I volunteered and Erina vouched for me.”

I glanced at his chest. “Because you’ve got a beacon inside of you.”

Straus stiffened for a telling moment. “That’s right. If necessary, they can translocate me to another location.”

“And me along with you.”

“Obviously. And that beacon got me into the building without the need to go through the doors. Once inside, I waited for you and Hexaria to exit the apartment. Then I followed you. But when you suddenly bolted in a panic, more alarms went off. I had people yelling at me to go after you.” Straus shook his head wearily. “Jeezes, I really felt the pressure back then.”

“So what happened?”

Straus seemed to gather his thoughts before answering me. “Hexaria chased after you, and I ran behind her. But you are fast—I mean you are really, really fast on your feet. You left us behind. If you hadn’t stopped at the stairwell, we would never have caught up to you.”

I was surprised to hear him say that, but then sharply corrected him. “I didn’t stop. I tripped. The girls on the stairs saved me.”

“Yeah, well, good thing for us that they did.”

“Ha, ha,” I mockingly laughed at him.

Straus brushed it aside with a curt wave. “When I saw Hexaria stop at the landing, I hid in the crowd behind her. When she called you Mercy and stirred up the kids on the stairs, I moved closer. I saw you losing control. You were turning blonde in front of everyone. That made me panic, so I pushed through the crowd surrounding you, grabbed a hold of you, and yanked you out of there.” He sat back, and then crossed his arms. “And now we’re here having a private conversation.”

“A private conversation?”

I swept my gaze over the café that was steadily filling up with customers, yet the tables nearby were empty, thus forming a sort of No Man’s Land between us and the other patrons.

However, being here presented a peculiar conundrum of its own.

I turned back to Straus with a puzzled look on my face. “After all that trouble—after all that running around—why are we here? Why hasn’t anyone stormed in here and dragged me away? Why are we being left alone?” I tipped my head at him. “Or are they waiting for us outside?”

A troubled look crossed his face. “I wouldn’t know about that. What I do know is that I told Erina I needed time alone with you. And if we’re still here chatting undisturbed, then it means Erina was able to convince the Sanreals to give us a measure of privacy.”

“Privacy?” I was starting to see the picture and I didn’t like it. “So this was your idea?”

“Yes, it was.”

“Why?”

Straus bowed his head in thought and remained still for a long while. However, even before he gave me an answer, I was fairly certain why he – or should I say she – wanted to talk to me. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to hear him say:

“Erina’s in trouble and you’re the only one who can help her.”

I exhaled slowly and wilted back in my seat. “I knew it…it’s always about her.”

“Kassius—I mean, Isabel”—Straus hesitated and took a breath—“Erina truly needs your help. I’m not lying to you about this.”

I closed my eyes.

I’m so sick of hearing this.

He cautiously continued. “Isabel, the Sanreal Family is watching Erina closely.”

Opening my eyes, I stared coldly at him. “And what does that have to do with me?”

“Everything.” Once again, he folded his arms on the table and leaned toward me. “Erina is protecting you.”

I chortled in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“She’s protecting you from them. She convinced the Sanreals that you could be talked into co-operating.”

I smirked. “Well, she was counting her chickens before they hatched.”

Straus’s expression turned into a glare that he seemed to struggle holding in check. “And that’s why she’s in trouble. Because you’re not co-operating, the Sanreals are considering taking matters into their own hands.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they have ways of dealing with you. Such as isolating you in your Sarcophagus. Keeping you locked up and releasing you only when they need to. Putting your head—your mind—in a virtual space where they can keep you under control.”

The way he said it, I realized it wasn’t an idle threat.

That’s why my throat grew tight and I found it a little difficult to swallow. Yet I somehow managed to then warily ask, “How do you know all this?”

Straus banged on the table, startling me. “Because I spent the morning listening to Sanreal, Erina, Pearson, Celeste, Team Mirai, and the heads of the Spartan Division arguing over you—arguing over what to do with you. And the only reason you haven’t been boxed yet is because Erina is batting for you. She stepped up to the plate for you. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“She’s batting for me because she needs me.”

“Exactly, and you need her as well.” He pointed sharply at me. “But you pushed your luck today with that Great Escape routine you pulled. And then things got serious when we realized that House Cardinal had helped you out. And they got worse when Hexaria showed up and you kept it a secret from everybody.”

I blew a fuse.

In anger, I half rose from the seat, then jabbed a finger back at Straus.

“I pulled that Great Escape because that four-eyed bitch called the storm trooper sisters on me! So don’t you point your the finger at me!”

For emphasis, I banged on the table hard enough to make the plates jump, then glared so hotly at Straus it was a miracle the air between us didn’t catch fire.

However, I soon noticed something in the periphery of my awareness.

The café had grown deathly quiet.

The drone of background chatter had ceased, and everyone inside had turned to look at us.

I could almost feel their gazes pressing into my skin.

Believing it was best to avoid their eyes, I sat back and then pointedly stared at the pancakes slowly cooling on their plate on the table. After a short while, conversation began anew amongst the patrons, but Straus and I held onto the heavy, unpleasant silence that now hung over us.

A twinge from my stomach pushed me into action.

I reached out for the pancakes, tossed a couple onto a plate, then lathered them with a thin layer of honey syrup.

I dug into them, grateful they were still warm.

Straus watched me in silence, before pulling out his slim phone from a trouser pocket. He tapped away on it for a while, then placed it on the table and pushed it across to me.

“Read that,” he said in a hushed, somber tone.

Munching on a mouthful of pancake, I looked down at the phone.

The CyWeb browser was opened on a gossip site, the kind that reported on society’s high life in Ar Telica and around the world. The article on display had a photo of a blonde girl that looked remarkably like Mercy, and remarkably like me, alighting from a VTOL in the dead of night.

I read the caption above the photo.

SANREAL HEIRESS ARRIVES IN AR TELICA.

I read the caption below the photo.

ISABEL VAL SANREAL, YOUNGEST HEIRESS TO THE SANREAL FORTUNE, ARRIVES IN AR TELICA TO BEGIN A NEW LIFE.

Feeling curious in a dark, twisted kind of way, I scrolled down the article.

When I finished reading it, I looked across at Straus who was sitting back with his eyes closed and his head reclined against the headrest. “What’s the point of this?”

He replied without opening his eyes. “The point is that for now the Sanreals have decided to keep you out of the box. To the world, you’re Isabel val Sanreal, and you’ve arrived in Ar Telica to begin anew.”

I tapped the phone’s screen again and navigated through the gossip sites.

I found another article about me with a photo of me on the landing platform but from a different angle.

The caption above the image read, FROM RAGS TO RICHES – ISABEL VAL SANREAL LANDS ON TELORIA.

Straus spoke up in a low voice. “All of that serves to establish your identity. It also helps distinguish you from Mercy Haddaway while drawing comparisons to her.” He peered at me through lidded eyes. “And it means that you have a role to play on the stage they’ve set for you. What happens now depends on you.”

I resumed eating and finished off another couple of pancakes that I washed down with the orange juice the waitress had provided in a large glass pitcher. Then I started again on a couple more pancakes that I lathered with strawberry jam.

Straus continued sitting back with his head reclined and he’d closed his eyes again.

After all the talking he’d done, I was wary of this change in him.

The silence also made me uncomfortable until eventually I couldn’t endure it any longer.

After another swig of orange juice to clear my throat, I regarded the mechanical avatar sitting across the table.

“Do you know how hard this has been for me?”

Straus cracked open an eyelid and stared at me in silence.

I looked into his one open eye. “Do you know why I’ve managed to stay sane after everything that’s happened to me? It’s because I’ve been too busy trying to stay alive. But now I’ve got some downtime and it’s catching up to me.”

He opened both eyes, then gently said, “I’m listening.”

My chest tightened.

Straus was lending me his – her – ear, something that only Ghost and Mat had done before.

Maybe this was what I needed.

Someone else to talk to.

I ate more of the pancakes, washed them down with juice, then continued in a remarkably steady voice. “I’m not good with passive aggressive. And Erina just makes me feel aggressive. I try not to get angry—I really do—but she just gets under my skin. And then my blood boils and I lose my temper.”

Straus chuckled wearily under his breath. “Funny, she said the same thing about you.”

I stopped cutting up the pancakes on my plate and gave him a hard, questioning look. “She did?”

“You and your sister are cut from the same cloth. You’re both recalcitrant and egocentric. You both can’t see past your noses.”

I sneered at him. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“You’re welcome.” Straus sat up. “I understand that you blame Erina for what happened, but it’s misplaced. You should blame Kateopia.”

“Oh, I blame Kateopia. Rest assured. I definitely blame her.”

“And you’re wrong about one more thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“You’re not Ronin Kassius. You’re Mirai. You were never Ronin Kassius.”

The truth hurts, but this was a hurt that I’d already experienced and cried over. It was a hurt I was slowly coming to terms with on my own. Thus, he was sorely mistaken if he expected to use it as a trump card against me.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I replied through a thin smile.

“Then why won’t you cut Erina some slack?”

“Because I can’t accept how she treats me. Even if I was never Ronin Kassius but just a copy of his mind, I’m still me. I have feelings, memories, thoughts. I am not a machine.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“But she isn’t.”

Straus sighed. “You’ve made that point clear to her. Trust me on this.”

Frankly, that puzzled me. “Are you saying that she’s reflected on her mistakes?”

“I’m saying that she’s definitely reevaluating how she deals with you.”

I placed my utensils down on the table. “You see, that’s the problem. Erina doesn’t see me as a real person. She sees me as a research project. Something she needs to manage.” I shook my head slowly. “And that’s why I have a problem with her.”

Straus frowned slightly but held his tongue, and so I continued voicing my complaint.

“To Erina, I’m not important as a person. I’m important because of the research she’s conducting. And she values that research above everything else. And the proof is that she was willing to face an Empress and not back down an inch.”

Tabitha had said Erina was protecting Mirai and Clarisol, but I didn’t believe that for a moment.

Erina was protecting her research.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Straus softly argued, “That research isn’t just important to her. It’s important to humanity.”

I shook my head gently. “I don’t have a problem with the research. I can accept that it has the potential—the potential—to save lives. That doesn’t mean that it will. But as I said, I don’t have an issue with it. My problem is that when Erina looks at me, she’s not seeing humanity’s salvation.”

“Then what does she see?”

“In her eyes, I’m humanity’s future.”

In a very human way, Straus’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and the frown he’d been wearing deepened as he stared at me in silence.

I watched him too, aware that I was looking at a machine and not a handsome teenage boy, but somehow I felt as though I’d moved past my troubles reconciling the illusion with reality. Thus, I was able to meet his gaze as though it belonged to a real boy, and not feel unsettled all the way to my bones as my andro-mechano-phobia slumbered in the recesses of my subconscious.

Straus broke his silence, tipping his head slightly in my direction. “If I say that I agree with you, will you listen to my advice?”

I was unable to hide my surprise. “You agree with me?”

Unexpectedly, he gave me a troubled look. “It’s just a gut feeling I have…a feeling that Erina is looking for something more in you. A feeling that she has something else planned for you and the Angel Fibers. Something other than what she has told the Sanreals.”

“…like what…?”

“You said it yourself. Like becoming humanity’s future.”

He was right.

I had said so myself yet hearing it from him made me feel cold.

“Will you listen to my advice?” he asked.

I pressed my lips tightly together, fighting off the chill I felt.

“Isabel?”

Damn it—snap out of it!

In a hurry, I blurted out, “Don’t bother. I know what you’re going to say.”

Straus hesitated for a second. “Then what are you going to do? Keep going the way you have?” He hesitated again. “Leaving aside whatever plans Erina truly has for you—and I’m not comfortable with speculating behind her back—if you continue on this path, if you keep going the way you’re going, butting heads with Erina at every turn, then she won’t be able to protect you.”

“You keep insisting that she’s protecting me, but I’m not buying it.”

He exhaled in exasperation. “Do you know the reason why you are living as Isabel val Sanreal?”

“Wasn’t that something House Novis arranged with the Empress?”

“No. The Empress only wanted Mirai fighting in the Gun Princess Royale. The part about you living as Isabel was a proposal that Erina pushed through with the support of her team. Using her influence over Simon Sanreal, and a psychological report prepared by Celeste, Erina convinced him to have you assume the identity of Isabel val Sanreal. You are valuable to Erina and to the Sanreals. But Kateopia twisted their arm and had them enter you in the Gun Princess Royale where they stand to lose you. With that in mind, the Sanreals had decided to keep you safe when you were away from the GPR. That meant confining you to your Sarcophagus and using its technology to have your mind experience living in a virtual reality.”

I nodded faintly. “You said that already.”

“The Sanreals didn’t want you exposed to the outside world. To them, it was a huge risk. Think about it. You’re special. You’re the culmination of years of research and they didn’t want to risk losing you to an accident, to injury, to a whole variety of unexpected circumstances.”

I started shaking my head as I felt something was amiss with his explanation. “You’re telling me I’m special, and that they couldn’t risk having me out in the real world. Yet they were planning to send Clarisol away in this body. They were planning to have her live far away from Teloria. That makes no sense to me.”

Straus shook his head quickly. “Not right away. They weren’t planning for that until it was certain that Mirai would live for a very, very long time. If it turned out that Mirai fell short of expectations, then they would suspend the plan and wait until Mirai could be perfected or a new improved version could be made. They were being careful to tick all the boxes. Putting Clarisol in a defective Simulacra was not an option, especially with the problems that Clarisol’s Simulacra eventually experience.”

A second chill ran through me as I remembered what Tabitha had told me. “What problems?”

Straus took a deep breath and shrugged uneasily. “After a while, they go crazy.”

“Crazy?”

He shrugged again. “The Sanreals don’t know why, but Clarisol’s Simulacra don’t last long—a year at best—before slowly going mad. They’ve been trying to figure it out for years. They blame it on the Simulacra they make for her, so they were pinning their hopes on Mirai. But then the Empress found out about Mirai and their plans went awry.”

I wet my lips slowly while digesting this.

Then Tabitha wasn’t lying. And Erina found out. But did she tell the Sanreals? Did they not believe her? Is this why she felt compelled to reveal all to the Empress?

I cleared my throat gently. “Then what about the Angel Fibers. Could the Sanreals afford to have Mirai or Isabel leave their grasp? Wouldn’t they need her for more research?”

“Erina said she could make another Mirai to continue the research. Once she didn’t need the first Mirai—once she was sure the prototype met the Sanreals requirements as a suitable body for Clarisol—then Clarisol would be free to assume the life of Isabel Allegrando, far away from it all.”

I pressed my lips together and inwardly disagreed.

No, not Clarisol, but a copy of her consciousness. The real Clarisol would still be stuck in that prison for her mind.

However, I chose not to correct Straus, asking instead, “Is that all?”

“What?”

“Is that all there is to it?”

Straus gave me a puzzled frown, perhaps baffled that I was expressing this much interest, but then continued explaining the decisions behind my circumstances. “The Sanreals also feared that Kateopia might kidnap you. But Erina told Kateopia that if Mirai was stolen, Mirai would die.”

A third chill ran through me.

Thus far, Straus was confirming what Tabitha had told me.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it took a little effort for me to find my voice. “Is that true?”

He looked visibly uncomfortable as he shrugged a shoulder. “Honestly, I don’t know. Your sister won’t tell anyone what precautions she took, and I don’t have a reason to doubt her. You’re precious to her but I don’t know if she’s willing to lose you permanently. With her it’s a war of wills with the Empress and that gives birth to a contradiction. On the one hand, she’s adamant that you’re too valuable to hand over, but on the other she’s determined to keep exclusive control over the research no matter the cost and to avoid putting you in a box. For the Sanreals, the idea of keeping you in the Sarcophagus under the proverbial lock and key suited them just fine. And like I said, your mind could be kept busy living in a virtual world so perfect you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

My blood slowly ran cold as I wondered if I was already boxed.

What if right now I was experiencing a simulation so perfect that I perceived it as reality?

How would I be able to distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t?

I have to admit that I was scared, but I’d be damned if I let Straus see how frightened I was.

Swallowing discreetly, I then asked, “So why am I out here and not in there?”

“I told you. Because Erina had other ideas. She didn’t want you boxed. She wanted you to experience real life. To live in the real world. And so she convinced Simon to make use of the identity of Isabel Allegrando – an identity the Sanreals had carefully created over the span of many months for Clarisol – and to bring Isabel into the Sanreal Family. To amend her existence so that she was the illegitimate daughter of Phelan Sanreal, otherwise known in the other universe as Phelan Sanreal Erz Novis, the head of House Novis.”

“Why? Why would she do that? Why go that far?”

Was it because Erina knew I would have trouble accepting my new existence?

Erina was an Alpha, so perhaps she’d used her enhanced intellect to plan ahead. But that implied that she cared about Mirai. It implied that Erina had a heart and she saw Mirai as more than a research project. This contradiction bothered me because having Mirai contained safely in the Sarcophagus made life easier for Erina – it made Mirai easier for her to manage. So why did she argue so hard for Mirai’s freedom?

It just didn’t make sense to me, unless I assumed that I was wrong about Erina, and that was a notion I was unwilling to entertain.

Hence, if I wasn’t wrong about her, then where did that leave me?

Before disembarking from the Sanreal Crest, Erina had admitted that she wanted me to mature, to evolve, to be more than I was now. I still believed that was a rare moment of honesty from her, and because of that I couldn’t shake off the impression that Erina had long term plans for me.

This brought my thinking back to the issue of Clarisol.

If what Straus told me was true, Erina’s plans clashed with the Sanreals’ intention to have Clarisol live out her life in Mirai’s body as Isabel Allegrando.

In summary, Erina had her own agenda, and it went contrary to those of the Sanreals.

My former sister was indeed playing a dangerous game.

I closed my eyes tightly as I leaned back, then reclined my head against the headrest behind me.

Why go that far? Is Mirai so special that she would risk my life, her life, and Ronin’s life as well?

I opened my eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

My gods, Erina. What have you dragged me into?

Straus stepped into my thoughts. “Isabel, listen to me carefully.”

I swallowed and continued looking up at the ceiling. “I’m listening….”

“The Sanreals are watching you. They are watching me. They are watching Erina. They are watching how you behave around her. They are watching the decisions you make. They are considering how much or how little control Erina has over you.”

I looked down at Straus and met his gaze.

Those perfectly realistic yet mechanical eyes were staring fixedly at me, grabbing my attention and refusing to let it go as their owner spoke in a low, grim tone.

“If you continue to challenge Erina the way you have been, they will make a judgement call, an executive decision, and take matters into their own hands. They will take you away from Erina.”

Straus paused but I knew what he was going to say.

After all, it was an inevitable conclusion.

“Isabel, they will box you.”

 

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Thank you for getting this far. I apologize for not posting sooner. I've had work intrude into life and I'm also learning to deal with a health issue.

Book 1 of the newly reimagined & rebooted series, The Gun Princess Royale, is available on Amazon for purchase or reading on Kindle Unlimited. More than two years of writing have gone into it. Please check it out. It's 873 pages so the sample for reading on Amazon is a whopping 87 pages.

Work on Book 2 of the newly reimagined series is ongoing. Concept design for now. I'm also looking at restarting a META/Facebook promotion for the new book in March.

A happy & safe 2024 to all of you.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages.

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Earlier, Straus had singled out the man facing an annoyed Erina as the Alpha male.

But to me there was another reason why he stood out amongst his peers.

It wasn’t his long, sandy hair, his tall build, and fine facial features that set him apart from the other security personnel. Nor was it his clothes that included a long, dark, mahogany trench coat over a matching business suit – entirely unbecoming in the summer heat that was steadily warming up the morning air. And it had nothing to do with him chatting to Erina as though she was an old acquaintance who was unhappy to see him.

No, that wasn’t it at all.

What made him stand out to me was the unnerving sensation I felt deep in Mirai’s gut, in her bones, in the muscles wrapped around them, and in the faint hairs along the nape of her neck as I walked closer to him.

Mirai’s intuition was telling me that this man was dangerous in a way that many men were not…and that some men hoped to be.

I chose to listen to her instincts and stopped several feet away from him.

Straus followed suit, coming to a halt a couple of feet off to my right.

As for Erina, she stood within arm’s length of the man in the mahogany trench coat, staring at me in disbelief darkened by anger. But before she could chastise or berate me for disobeying her instruction, the young man reached up and removed his dark sunglasses to reveal a pair of remarkable green eyes.

As those eyes met mine, I felt for myself the danger Mirai had perceived, and my breath caught in my chest for a heartbeat.

There’s a saying about smelling blood on a person.

Maybe this was what I was sensing now – the lingering scent of carnage surrounding him – and I steeled myself against it.

Normally, I would have folded my arms under Mirai’s impressive bust, but instead I allowed her instincts to take over. She stood with her arms by her sides, and her legs almost shoulder width apart. She wasn’t balancing on the balls of her feet – not yet – but her weight was evenly distributed, and her muscles were neither tense nor relaxed. Rather, she seemed ready to spring into action at the drop of a hat.

And yet one thing surprised me.

The sea breeze tousled Mirai’s hair, blowing it past my face, and in the corner of my eye, I glimpsed her long blonde locks.

Mirai hadn’t powered up.

I could sense that this man wasn’t to be trifled with, and Mirai was indeed standing at the ready, yet she was also holding herself back.

Why? What was she waiting for?

Wary and confused, I watched him smile faintly at me as we regarded each other in silence.

When he finally addressed me, he sounded almost carefree.

“Lady Isabel. Nice to see you up and about.”

His breezy manner briefly inflamed me.

I had to give myself a few moments before asking, “Who are you? You know me, but I don’t know you.”

Pocketing his sunglasses into a vest pocket, his smile grew wider.

Almost immediately, Mirai tensed up.

His apparently relaxed demeanor was at odds with mine, however he was standing with his body at a slight angle toward me. Even as he offered me a slight bow, his guarded stance convinced me not to override Mirai’s instincts in the slightest.

If she needed to move – if she wanted to move – she would do so without my restraint.

“Apologies, Lady Isabel. My name is Geharis Arnval. I’m head of Spartan Division.”

“What’s that?”

“Private security for the Sanreal Family…and the Telos Corporation.”

I swallowed quietly. “And why are you here?”

“We’re here to take you home.”

“Home?”

“To the Sanreal Family. To your family.”

I glanced at Erina who watching all this with a stiff expression, then faced Arnval again. “Are you planning on cutting me into three, and putting one piece into each car?”

Arnval’s lips twitched before he chortled. “Apologies, but we take your security quite seriously.”

I spared the building with the garden balcony a meaningful look. “Yeah, I guess you do.”

That earned me a grin from him. “Better safe than sorry.”

I swallowed down a snide retort and chose to wet my lips slowly as I studied him intently. However, there was only so much I could glean from just looking at him.

Unexpectedly, Arnval’s grin had grown uncertain under my quiet scrutiny.

I saw that as an opening I could exploit.

“You said it was good to see me up and about.”

“I did.”

“So we’ve met before.”

His grin wavered. “You could say that.”

“Then why don’t I remember you?”

There was a sudden mischievous glint in his eyes that made his grin appear cruel.

“Has anyone told you,” he asked, “that you look better as a brunette?”

It was extraordinary how swiftly he drew his gun.

Even as the words left his lips, his right-hand dove in and out of his trench coat with no visible acceleration.

Normally when someone moves – no matter how quickly – their limbs will noticeably accelerate. But with him, it was as though his arm had immediately achieved terminal velocity.

It wasn’t a ‘blink’ and miss it moment.

Rather, the moment didn’t exist.

Caught by surprise, I was slow to react…but not Mirai.

As Arnval’s right arm swung in my direction with gun in hand, she bolted toward him.

From a standing start, she – and thereby I – moved like lightning, halving the distance to him in an instant.

Before I knew it, my right foot had touched ground a millisecond before I kicked upwards with my left foot, connecting with his gun hand, and thereby throwing off his aim.

The impact caused him to squeeze the trigger.

The hammer clicked…but the gun didn’t fire.

Huh?

Confusion and disbelief rocked me.

Even as my leg completed its swing, knocking aside Arnval’s arm, I struggled to comprehend what had happened until I laid eyes on his grin.

Bastard!

I’d been played.

The gun hadn’t fired because it wasn’t loaded.

I look better as a brunette?

His motive abruptly made sense.

Arnval wanted to draw out Mirai – Dark Mirai – and he’d succeeded.

The moment Arnval reached for his gun and Mirai sprang into action, she had transformed from blonde to brunette. Powered up, my senses had sharpened to a razor’s edge, allowing me to perceive Arnval and my surroundings with extraordinary clarity, and that’s why I had time to consider the infuriating grin on his face.

However, something felt different.

My consciousness had overclocked, thus giving me the illusion that time had slowed down around me. But on this occasion, it appeared to have slowed down a little too much. For example, in my peripheral vision, I saw Erina surrounded by her golden lifeforce, standing motionless and not even breathing.

So too Straus, and the black suited bodyguards.

And there was more to it.

For a mere distended second, Mirai’s body had moved in harmony with my overclocked mind. I’d experienced this once before back on the roof of the maglev station when she’d unexpectedly kept pace with my accelerated consciousness, and that boost in speed had saved me from being struck by an electro-shock dart. Now, her phenomenal speed allowed me to kick away Arnval’s gun hand before he could aim it at me.

Of course, with the gun being unloaded there was no danger.

Arnval had toyed with me, and that made my innards burn from a mixture of humiliation and anger. But the prospect of a near miss chilled some of that rage. Had the gun fired, the bullet would have brushed by my left ear and taken some of Mirai’s raven hair with it.

However, another surprise awaited me.

Mirai had put a lot of her strength into her kick, but the heavy blow had merely nudged aside Arnval’s arm about a foot, and the bastard had held onto his sidearm.

Instead of seeing his wrist break on impact, it was my left foot that burned in agony as though I’d kicked a steel I-beam, and with time stretched out, the pain lasted for what felt like an eternity.

By now I didn’t care if the gun was loaded or not.

Disarming him wasn’t a priority anymore.

Instead, wiping the grin off his face had become paramount.

I was going to hurt this man for making a fool of me…and Mirai.

I was going to hurt him for hurting my foot.

But behind my determination to rip Arnval ‘a new one’, I was acutely aware that Mirai’s body was performing actions ingrained upon it and adhering to techniques that would have required countless hours of physical training to hone my legs into lethal weapons. It was akin to Mirai’s skillful use of firearms, wielding them as though she’d been using them for years. However, operating weapons wasn’t the same as executing precise martial actions, so why was I able to fight like a pro?

Ghost had said Mirai’s body had been imprinted with someone’s muscle memory.

It was the reason she could walk, run, and fight with such ease.

I didn’t know who they were – their identity was guarded behind a block of ICE that even Ghost couldn’t breach – but I was grateful to them because I was going to use their skills to knock Geharis Arnval into the middle of next week!

With my left foot back on the ground, I pivoted on it while swinging my right foot up at Arnval’s head.

I had to kick high because he was taller than me.

Fortunately, I was wearing a skirt that allowed my legs to move freely.

Unfortunately, said skirt was short and held nothing back as it fluttered around my thighs.

Knowing that I was flashing Arnval, my cheeks burned in shame.

Damn that Tabitha!

However, there was an upside to the situation.

Arnval’s attention had snapped to the racy black panties I wore.

Entranced by the vista between my legs, he left himself wide open and failed to block my kick.

My right foot slammed into the side of his head, spinning him around.

Then again, maybe his body was simply rolling with the kick – turning reflexively upon impact to dispel the energy behind the blow.

Regardless, for one precious second, Arnval had his back toward me, and Mirai capitalized on the moment.

Helped along by momentum, I continued turning my body, whirling on my right foot the instant it touched ground, then lashing out with my left leg.

Had he been facing me, I would have given him another view to remember and write home about as my skirt billowed upwards.

That does it—no more skirts for me!

But with his back toward me, the kick I landed booted him into the side of the black suburban parked behind him.

Newton said, for every reaction there’s an equal and opposite reaction, thus I rebounded away from Arnval.

I had to spin Mirai’s body to regain my balance, but once both feet were back on the ground, I leapt at him while he was still recovering from the combo kick.

That’s when I saw something unexpected and disturbing.

The lifeforce aura radiating from his body wasn’t complete.

Distracted, I almost crashed into him.

By then, Arnval had turned around and face me.

I had to scramble to grab his arms and pin him against the suburban’s door.

His gun wasn’t a concern anymore.

Rather, I wanted to bury him into the car’s door, but it wasn’t long before I started to worry, then panic, as I struggled against him.

Gods damn it—why is he so strong?

Tabitha had said I was six or seven times stronger than a girl my size. But it was taking every ounce of that strength to pin Arnval to the dented door, with my feet constantly slipping as they scrabbled for purchase on the grass underfoot.

Wait a minute—the car is dented?

Staring at Arnval, my eyes widened in dismay.

He’s not a machine avatar, so what the Hell is he?

Because of the lifeforce radiating from his eyes, I knew they were real, but what about the rest of him?

“What are you?” I hissed through clenched teeth, my breathing labored as I struggled to keep Arnval pressed into the suburban’s flank.

He was no different – his breathing short and shallow as we both huffed and puffed against each other.

“My, my,” he wheezed out through a twisted smile. “You really are a tiger.”

My body fully exerted, I sucked in air and then cried out, “Answer me!”

The strain was starting to get to him. “Is that…what you…really…want to know?”

I bent my legs slightly as my feet continued to slip and slide on the grass beneath them. “You didn’t need to pull a gun on me!”

“Ma chérie…I wanted…to see…the real…you.”

I scowled fiercely up at him. “Asshole! You could have just asked—oof!”

Preoccupied, I failed to notice his leg coming up until his knee buried itself into my gut.

Doubled over and winded, I tightened my stomach muscles, and refused to release his arms. But when I sensed his knee come up a second time, I evaded it by darting back.

Unfortunately, I had to relinquish my hold on him but not before delivering a parting gift.

As I retreated, I grabbed his gun and twisted it harshly with all the grip strength my left hand could muster.

Since he wasn’t going to let it go, then the least I could do was render it useless.

It didn’t break, but it did crack.

Releasing it, I then escaped beyond his reach.

With some distance between us, I slipped into a defensive stance.

If felt like the first round was over, but before round two got underway, I quickly glanced around to take stock of my surroundings. The security personnel had drawn their sidearms and were aiming them at me. In response, Straus had snatched Erina out of harm’s way, and retreated out of the line of fire where he was now shielding her with his body.

I could understand him wanting to protect her from stray gunfire, but it needled my ego.

Hey—shouldn’t you be protecting me? I’m your hope, aren’t I?

Movement caught my eye, yanking my attention back onto Arnval.

With some effort, he pushed himself away from the side of the large black suburban, then rolled his shoulders as though working the strain out of his muscles.

“Damn, you kick hard,” he muttered sourly.

Watching him intently, I studied his incomplete aura.

Maybe he was human, but not all of him.

A cyborg?

It certainly explained why his lifeforce only radiated from his head and torso, implying that his limbs were artificial.

It certainly explained why he was so strong.

Arnval gave the mangled firearm in his hand a disappointed look. “Damn, I really liked that gun.”

Holstering it with a grimace, he then waved at the surrounding security personnel.

“Stand down,” he instructed them while sounding inappropriately amused. “I said, stand down. No harm done. Everybody relax. That’s an order.”

He may have included me in that order, but I had no intention of dropping my guard.

Most of my attention remained focused on him, though I could see the security agents in my peripheral vision continue to aim their sidearms at me in defiance of his order. I also noticed the pale orange hue of their aura, identifying them as Simulacra.

Disposable labor, I thought with contempt until I remembered that Mirai too was a Simulacrum, although purportedly unique and far superior, and hardly disposable if one considered how much of a fuss people were making over her.

Arnval regarded his subordinates with growing impatience, and no longer sounded amused. “I said, stand down. That’s an order. If I have to repeat myself one more time, I’m going to start breaking arms.”

It didn’t seem like an idle threat, and it worked its magic.

In short order, the dark suited men and women holstered their weapons, albeit reluctantly.

“That’s better,” Arnval remarked with a thin smile of approval that quickly turned cruel. “But I’m going to have you running fifty laps around the compound when we get back. Disobey me again and I’ll make it a hundred.”

As he took a long stride away from the side of the suburban, I looked at where its door was dented as though rammed by a steel girder. Apparently, when I kicked Arnval in the back, he’d used his hands to brace himself against the door, and the impact had buckled the metal skin inward all the way to the crash bars.

Convinced he was a cyborg, I nonetheless asked him again, “What are you?”

Arnval frowned curiously at me but didn’t answer, so I pressed on.

“I know you’re not a Simulacrum. And you’re not a mechanical either. But you’re not human. So what the Hell are you?”

He cocked his head at me. “What makes you ask?”

“You’re strong like me, kicking you is like kicking a wall, and look at what you did to the car’s door.”

“You do have a point or two….” He broke into a thin smile. “You’re quite remarkable.”

I exhaled derisively through my nose. “Flattery will you get you nowhere.”

“And your speed surprised me. For a second, you vanished before my eyes.”

I mused that tidbit for a second.

Was he referring to when Mirai’s body had moved in time with my accelerated awareness?

But why was he telling me that? Wasn’t it better to keep it a secret?

Arnval gazed at me as though seeing me in a new light. “You certainly exceeded my expectations.”

His expectations?

“Should I say thanks?” I snarked at him.

“However, is it enough for you to survive?”

A frown flickered across my brow.

I couldn’t remember a specific occasion, but I had the feeling that someone had asked me that before. Or was it just a figment of my imagination? Was it something that I’d asked myself instead? Nonetheless, I understood what he was alluding to.

“You’re talking about the Gun Princess Royale.”

He replied with a nod.

I tried hiding how anxious the question made me feel behind a casual shrug. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

“True. Then we’ll know if the work they put into you paid off.”

That brought a chill to my chest. “What work…?”

“I wonder if she’ll be proud of you.”

My stance faltered as a wave of uncertainty and confusion washed over me.

Is he referring to Erina?

I threw my former sister a fleeting glance and saw that she was still hiding behind Straus’s mechanical avatar, her expression one of abject frustration.

Honestly, it was the closest I’d seen her come to biting through her nails.

Turning back to Arnval, I cleared my throat before declaring, “You’re a real asshole—not answering my questions.”

He dismissed my insult with a shrug. “That’s also true. But I’ll answer your questions if they’re the right—”

Without warning, he abruptly looked northward.

Surprised, I almost turned to look myself, but held back because I was wary of being tricked by him, until a moment later when I noticed the Spartan security people reach for their guns.

Only then did I risk following his gaze.

What I saw made my blood run cold.

In the distance, a few hundred feet away to the north, a lone teenage girl wearing a Telos Academy high school summer uniform was walking toward us across the parkland. Her long dark hair and attractive oval face brought back memories of when we first met a few days ago.

Little did I know then how much trouble she would turn out to be.

Striding toward us, the troublesome teenage girl threw us a wave. However, true to her eccentric nature, she was waving both her arms in the air. She was like Robinson Crusoe desperately flagging down a passing ship. Quite clearly she was looking for attention, and her off-kilter approach worked because everyone around me was staring at her, and no one was happy to see her.

Arnval regarded her with veiled hostility.

The security personnel were itching to unleash Hell upon her.

Erina was glaring at her with such intensity the air almost crackled around her.

Straus’s fingers twitched as though he was missing his favorite gun.

And me?

Nope, I wasn’t happy to see her either.

I had grudge against her, and I wasn’t going to forgive her for the traumatic experience she’d subjected me to back in the stairwell. As for her bribe, she could keep it because I would find another way to meet my Goddess.

Yes, the girl walking toward us was none other than Tabitha Hexen, otherwise known as Taura Hexaria Erz Cardinal.

Arnval slashed the air with his right arm, stopping the Spartan personnel from shooting a storm of bullets at her.

“Stand down,” he snapped while staring at Tabitha with merciless eyes.

The black suited men and women were reluctant to follow his order, but no one risked his wrath by continuing to point their gun at Tabitha.

Arnval spoke again, but I quickly realized he was having a conversation with someone out of sight. I couldn’t see him wearing an earpiece or earbud, so perhaps the transceiver was implanted into his skull. Whatever means he was using to communicate with the unseen party, Arnval sounded grimly unhappy at what he was hearing.

“Did she translocate?” he asked. “She did? Damn it! She must have had a beacon nearby. No, it’s fine. We can search for it later. We all knew she was going to be hard to track—no hold off on that for the moment.” He shook his head stiffly. “Tell them we’ll be coming soon…no, I’d rather avoid trouble with her if I can. Just cover us as best you can…yes, if she makes a move, shoot her. That’s a machine avatar, so aim for her head.” I caught the glance he gave me. “I’m almost tempted to hear her out, but I’m not that foolish. If she gets too close, take her down.” He paused. “How close? Take her down at a hundred feet.”

Ghost stepped into my view. “I should have known better, Princess.”

Distracted, I whispered back, “Known what?”

“That Hexaria would embed tracking filaments into your uniform. That is undoubtedly how she kept tabs on your location.”

I trembled as though electrocuted.

My gods! She tracked me the same way Erina did!

When I recovered, I started pulling at the uniform I was wearing.

“I—I gotta take this off….”

Abruptly, Arnval crossed the short distance between us and firmly grabbed onto my left arm. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking this off!”

He frowned, stared at my uniform, then shook his head. “Not out here. Get in the car. We’re leaving.”

For a half-second, I gaped at him in confusion but then angrily yanked my arm back.

Unfortunately, he held onto me with an iron grip, and though he staggered, he refused to release me.

“Let me go or lose the arm!” I warned him.

Regaining his footing, Arnval hauled me toward him.

I didn’t know if he was stronger than me, but he was certainly far heavier, and that gave him an advantage in our tug-of-war. He pulled me so close that I stared up at him cross-eyed, then coldly whispered, “I presume you know who she is?”

The danger and menace I’d felt surrounding him earlier was now palpable in the air. It wrapped around me, stifling my struggles against him.

Arnval persisted. “You know who she is…don’t you?”

Despite my anger, the scent of blood and violence in his breath chilled me to the bone.

I swallowed with some difficulty and haltingly nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, she told me—”

“And you know what she is.”

I nodded again. “A…a machine avatar.”

“Good. Then I’ll make this short.” He drew back a little so that I no longer looked at him cross-eyed. “Hexaria has been playing with us all morning. Jumping around the city, making it difficult for us to track her until she showed up at your door. But after the two of you left the apartment, we lost her in the building. And now she’s here. We don’t know her game, so our priority is to get you out of the city until House Novis can deal with House Cardinal in the Imperial Court.” He cocked his head at me. “Is this getting through to you?”

Some of the fight I’d lost was making a comeback.

Clearing my throat, I did my best to match his icy tone. “Yeah, I get it. Now let me go, or else!”

Arnval jerked me so harshly it blurred my vision, then he yanked me close to him again.

“Not happening! Hexaria is here for you. Why? I’ve got a few guesses. But I’m not going to waste time asking you if they’re right or wrong.”

I clamped my jaw shut then pushed against Arnval’s chest with enough force to get some distance between us that he could do nothing about.

Tabitha was right—I am bloody strong.

But my uniform wasn’t, so I stopped pushing against him when it began to rip.

Arnval shook his head slowly. “I’m not letting you go, ma chérie.”

I exhaled loudly in frustration.

Pressing my lips tightly together, I shot a glance at Ghost standing beside Arnval unbeknownst to him.

In reply, he shrugged as if to say, It is your call, Princess.

My attention then fell on Tabitha walking steadily toward us, probably a hundred meters away now.

Damn her! This is all her fault!

I met Arnval’s frosty gaze, then took a ragged breath that made my chest shudder. “Whatever we talked about…is between her and I.”

He accepted that with a nod. “She offered you a place in House Cardinal, didn’t she?”

Arnval had hit the nail on the head, but Straus had figured it out as well, so perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a shock to me.

Yet it did, and my heart jumped forcefully in my chest.

Of course, Arnval noticed my reaction.

“Hexaria made you an offer.” He snorted loudly. “Did you give her an answer?”

With the cat out of the bag, I felt I had no choice but to be honest with him. “No…I didn’t.”

“Thanks, that’s all I needed to know.”

He suddenly released me.

I stumbled but caught my balance before I could fall onto my backside. “Do that again, and I swear I will—wah!”

Without warning, he scooped me up and tossed me over his right shoulder like a bag of cement.

“What the Hell?” I yelled at him.

If I hadn’t been so distracted – and if Mirai had been her usual razor-sharp self – he wouldn’t have caught me by surprise. But now I watched the parkland spin crazily around me as Arnval whirled on the spot and then ran the short distance to the idling suburbans. Hearing the gentle thrum of their engines, I immediately knew they were hybrids running hydro-fusion drives, and that meant these vehicles were some serious road machines. However, that was something that I noticed in passing because most of my attention was on Arnval’s back and on the ground above my head – or rather below me.

Grabbing onto his back for support, I readied myself to ram a knee into his chest.

“PUT. ME. DOWN—!”

“Raine, take the shot.”

I froze and missed my chance to knee Arnval in the solar plexus.

Despite Mirai’s abnormally sharp hearing, I heard no boom and no explosion as I frantically swung my head in Tabitha’s direction.

A split second late and I would have missed it.

Whatever kind of bullet struck her head did so with enough force to slam Tabitha bodily into the grass.

I knew it was a machine – a Gun Princess avatar – but nonetheless it was chilling to watch her fall and then lie still.

Abruptly, my body was flipped over and dropped to the ground.

I landed on my feet as my back struck something hard and cold, probably one of the black suburbans. In the corner of my eyes, I was aware of Arnval in front of me, and some of the security people moving quickly to secure Erina and Straus by urging them into one of the waiting vehicles, but most of my attention was on Tabitha lying motionless and prone on the grass.

Moments later, she vanished.

For a second before she disappeared, the air around Tabitha shimmered then spun in a vortex that consumed her body, as if sucking her away through an invisible hole in the air.

I gaped in disbelief until Arnval slapped my cheeks none-to-gently.

“Hey, focus,” he snapped at me.

That served to jar my mind back into gear, and I faced him with a little fire in my eyes. “That hurt.”

“Good.”

“And she’s gone.”

“Of course, she’s gone,” Arnval grumbled while pulling open the door to the vehicle behind me. “Do you really think she’d leave her machine body around for people to find?”

He pushed me into the suburban’s passenger cabin.

I landed heavily on the backseat, but quickly sat up. “You shot her!”

“Oh, you noticed?” he snarked.

“Why the frek did you do that for?”

Arnval leaned into the cabin. “When dealing with Hexaria, that’s standard operating procedure.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she’s unpredictable, and she followed you here.”

I shook my head in dismay. “But you’ve got it wrong. She’s not here to kidnap me. She could have done that back at the dormitory.”

He hesitated. “She said that?”

“Yes, she did!” I insisted loudly before lowering my voice. “She said that stealing me away would lead to a war, and that she’s not stupid enough to start one!”

Arnval snorted then smiled thinly at me. “If kidnapping you may start a war, then why is she here?”

I frowned at him in confusion.

What is he saying? No—what is he trying to tell me?

“You think about that,” he suggested before slamming the door shut.

Alone in the back seat, I blinked slowly, then absently gazed at the plush interior while my mind struggled to sort through the tangled situation. Because of this, I was late to notice that I wasn’t alone in the suburban.

A young Simulacrum woman sat in the driver’s seat. Dressed in a black business suit, she watched me over her shoulder with a cool smile.

“Hi there. I’m Marinette.”

Distracted as I was, I nonetheless acknowledged her with a nod.

I also admitted she was quite pretty.

Possibly in her late teens, she had shoulder length brown hair, a classic oval face, a small mouth below a pert nose, thin eyebrows and violet, almond eyes that gave her an exotic appearance. Of course, she didn’t compare to my goddess, but this teenage girl was indeed a head turner.

It made me wonder if she’d been deliberately designed that way.

There’s a saying that good looks can carry you far, but why gift a Simulacrum with such beauty?

I didn’t get to mull that over because the passenger door on the other side of the car was suddenly flung open, and Erina was practically tossed into the cabin. She landed beside me on the backseat, her rich shoulder length hair in disarray, her expression steeped in panic and confusion as she stared at me with wide eyes.

“Isabel—eep!”

She almost jumped out of her skin when her door was slammed shut behind her.

It was somewhat pleasing to see Erina stripped of her usual arrogance.

Not being in control was certainly doing a number on her.

Oddly, I didn’t feel like gloating, probably because by then I’d realized what Arnval had hinted at.

Tabitha hadn’t come for me.

She’d come for Erina, and if they nabbed her, then Tabitha and House Cardinal could use Erina as leverage against me. I needed Erina because she knew what made Mirai tick, so where Erina went, I was bound to follow. That was probably Tabitha’s reasoning, but Arnval had been expecting her to show up, and Renew had sniped her from across the street.

She wasn’t there just for me. She was waiting for Tabitha.

That grim realization led to another.

Arnval had used me as bait.

He’d used me to draw out Tabitha.

That sonavabitch!

And yet though I cursed him, I couldn’t deny that his reasoning made a dark kind of sense. It also made me briefly wonder at the pressures he was under to go that far. But then again, wasn’t it also a risk to expose me out in the open this way.

No, because I’m not Tabitha’s target.

Then again, did he know that?

Nonetheless, the thought made me stare at Erina with complicated feelings, until I wondered that if she was here, then where was Straus?

Up front, Arnval hastily climbed into the passenger seat beside Marinette.

“Go,” he commanded even as he was closing his door.

Wordlessly, Marinette dropped the big vehicle into gear and floored the accelerator.

“Hey, wait a minute,” I cried out. “What about—?”

The hydro-fusion turbine revved, cutting me off, and the heavy suburban shivered as though gathering itself like a large predatory beast eager to make a kill. Yet when it launched itself, there was no shrieking from the tires. Instead, the vehicle pulled away with a minimum of fuss, though the swift acceleration pressed me hard into the backseat.

Over a shoulder, Arnval snapped at Erina and I. “Both of you buckle up now!”

I bit back a retort as I busied myself with my seatbelt.

I suspected the suburban was equipped with a myriad array of safety devices – undoubtedly more than was standard – but there was something oddly reassuring to wearing a seatbelt.

I had it secured around me long before Erina who fumbled with hers for several seconds. By all appearances, the current situation had dramatically rattled her, yet my suspicious nature mused if it was nothing more than an act. Unwilling to discount that possibility, I shelved it for the time being, then leaned toward the middle of the cabin for a better view out the front windscreen as the large vehicle deftly changed lanes.

Marinette had slipped on a pair of sunglasses, and from the backseat, I glimpsed something on the inside of their lenses.

Is she following some sort of map? I wondered.

It was possible that an Assisting Intelligence was providing her with directions and recommending lane changes. This would explain how she was able to make short work of the morning traffic.

My next question was where were we going?

I could see the harbor to my left, and Mirai’s magnetic sense was telling me we were heading south along Ring Zero, but our destination was a mystery.

I thought about asking Ghost if he knew where we were headed, but then decided instead to thump the back of Arnval’s seat to get his attention. “Where are you taking us?”

“To a secure location,” he bluntly replied.

“Where?” I insisted.

It was Erina who answered me. “The Telos Corporation building.”

“No.” Arnval shook his head swiftly. “We have somewhere else in mind.”

Erina stared questioningly at the back of his head. “She won’t go there.”

“I won’t risk leading her anywhere near HQ.”

I shrugged in confusion. “I don’t understand. You believe she’ll follow us? But you shot her. You took out her avatar—”

“Hexaria has more than one,” he bitterly replied.

I sat back in the seat, feeling stupid for having asked the question.

Yes, of course she would.

However, my next question wasn’t so inane. “What about my uniform? Won’t she track us?”

Arnval glanced at Marinette. “Take us deep.”

She replied without taking her eyes off the road. “You want us under the city?”

“Take the Under-16 all the way to Ring Five.”

The young woman winced slightly. “Damn.”

“What?”

“We just missed the entrance.”

Arnval exhaled in disappointment. “Then take the—”

The hydro-fusion drive roared, silencing Arnval as Marinette suddenly downshifted and threw the suburban into a sharp U-turn across multiple lanes.

Inside the vehicle, we were tossed to one side of the cabin.

Erina screamed and I clung onto an armrest while Arnval braced himself against his door.

“Jeezes, Marinette—!” he cried out.

“Please don’t talk,” the young woman advised, “or you’ll bite your tongue.”

There was a hard bump – more like a lurch – and the suburban bounced over the median strip.

It dove into the fast traffic heading north, merging with it in a heartbeat.

Shaken but not stirred, we were now zooming northward along the multilane street.

By some miracle we had avoided colliding with anyone, but Erina was looking green, and I had cracked the armrest, while Arnval had to extricate himself from his door.

He scowled at Marinette. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Nope.”

“Do you have any idea how much data we’ll have to erase to hide that crazy stunt you just pulled?”

She calmly replied, “We have a Tempest Class Awareness working for us. Editing the recorded footage from the traffic cameras won’t be a problem for her.”

Arnval straightened in his seat. “One of these days you’ll be the death of me.”

“Oh, contraire. I promised Renew I’d take good care of you.”

He scowled at her again. “You are aware of the importance of our cargo?”

Sitting beside me, Erina laughed nervously as she clutched her door’s armrest and stared vacantly out her window. “Now I’m cargo….”

Ignoring my former sister who was wallowing in a reality check, I frowned at the Simulacrum woman behind the steering wheel.

I thought Clarisol was crazy, but this girl takes the cake!

Marinette hummed to herself. “Under-16…Under-16—there you are!”

She spun the steering wheel and the suburban swerved smoothly across five lines of flowing traffic. Again, I feared we would sideswipe the cars around us, but somehow the big boxy vehicle avoided a collision, and moments later it was hurtling down a wide ramp at near breakneck speed. Before long, we’d entered a subterranean realm beneath the city, crisscrossed by a warren of tunnels.

“…we’re going to die…going to die....”

That came from Erina who was still clutching at her door’s armrest with a white knuckled grip.

Twisting around in his seat, Arnval studied her for a second before facing Marinette.

“She’s right. With your driving, we’re going to die before Hexaria gets to us.”

“You’re assuming she can catch us,” Marinette countered. “Even if she translocates throughout the city, she’ll be on foot whereas we’re on wheels. And she’ll have trouble tracking us with so much noise around us”—she pointed upwards—“because we’re under the city.”

At the mention of being tracked, I grimaced at my uniform before asking, “So Tabitha can’t follow us?”

Arnval twisted around a little more in his seat for a better look at me. “Down here, it’s unlikely your uniform will give away our location.”

Marinette jumped in. “However, House Cardinal is using a Conquistador Class Awareness to spy on the city—”

“—and it’s going toe-to-toe with our Tempest Class,” Arnval cut her off, sounding annoyed.

But Marinette wasn’t done. “Yep, yep. So there’s a battle going on between their super Awareness and our super Awareness.”

“Why?” I asked.

Marinette started to answer, “That’s because—”

“Marinette.”

“Yes?”

“Focus on driving.”

“Yep, yep….”

Arnval eyed her with distrust while he gave me a proper answer. “House Cardinal is making use of Libra to spy on you.”

The name rang a bell with me. “Tabitha mentioned them. What are they?”

“They’re a division within the Gun Princess Royale’s Battle Commission. They keep tabs on people of interest to the Battle Commission, and you are a person of interest. Unfortunately, Libra is a puppet of House Cardinal. But Spartan has sufficient resources in Ar Telica to match them, which is why Marinette here can pull off stunt driving in the middle of the city and not get us arrested. We can hide ourselves from the traffic and surveillance grid.”

“And the cars around us,” Marinette chimed in.

Arnval scowled at her yet again. “Yes, and the cars around us….”

I cut in to ask, “Then we’re invisible to the city’s eyes?”

“More or less,” she answered, earning herself another dark look from her boss.

I shrugged in confusion. “Why are you so afraid of Tabitha?”

My question appeared to strike a nerve.

Marinette hesitated in her driving, and Arnval regarded me with a hard stare.

“I’m not afraid of Tabitha,” he declared, “but she is a complication.”

“Why?”

His face grew grim. “Because Hexaria has been playing a frustrating game of tit-for-tat with us for most of the morning.”

“Meaning what?”

His grim expression darkened. “Spartan and Libra have a network of trans-location beacons throughout the city. It allows operatives using machine avatars or portable beacons to hop all over the place. That was until this morning.”

“What happened this morning?”

“Hexaria decided to knock out our trans-location beacons. In return, Spartan has been locating her beacons and putting them out of commission. For now, we’re ahead. Seventeen beacons to thirteen. But finding them is proving difficult.” He pursed his lips unhappily before admitting, “And Renew missed the beacon Hexaria had planted in the dorm building…though it wasn’t for lack of trying.”

I gave him another confused shrug. “Why is she doing this? Is Tabitha picking a fight with you—with the Sanreals?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “She hasn’t engaged any of our people. She’s avoided them. But there’s no doubt she’s been playing with us. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s doing all this to distract us.”

“From what?”

“That’s a good question. What we do know is that House Cardinal has expressed an interest in you.”

“But I told you already—Tabitha said the Empress had labelled me off-limits.”

“That’s precisely why Hexaria’s antics are troubling. If you’re off limits, why go this far?”

Arnval was watching me, yet it seemed as though he was watching Erina as well.

That alone silenced me.

Taking that silence for an answer, he humphed to himself, then turned around and sat properly in his seat.

I sat back as well and considered what I’d learnt thus far.

However, in the corner of my eye, I noticed Erina contemplating Arnval with a silent, thoughtful mien.

Had she figured out what he’d left unsaid?

Knowing her, she was probably considering numerous possibilities far ahead of Arnval’s various trains of thought.

Nonetheless, it seemed safe to say that we’d all arrived at the same conclusion.

Tabitha wanted me, but to get me she first needed Erina.

---

Thank you for getting this far. I haven't posted recently because I've been working to promote the book elsewhere. Hasn't gone well. I planning a new approach for April. Will give Meta/Facebook another try. If anyone has suggestions on how to promote this series, I would really appreciate. I remember there being a book reviewer who only reviewed gender-bender and transgender stories. I just can't remember her name now. It's been 6 years since I submitted the original series to her.

I've also been working on Book 2 of the new reimagined series that will be continue Mirai/Ronin's story. Making slow and steady progress on that. And I'm working on a sci-fi novel that takes place in an alternate reality to the one found in The Gun Princess Royale. Elements from TGPR also exist in the sci-fi series that I'm slowly treading into. So it's early days on that story as well.

I will continue to post the rest of this book while chapters remain.

A reminder that Book 1 of the newly reimagined & rebooted series, The Gun Princess Royale, is available on Amazon for purchase or reading on Kindle Unlimited. More than two years of writing have gone into it. Please check it out. It's 873 pages so the sample for reading on Amazon is a whopping 87 pages.

A happy & safe 2024 to all of you.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages.

---

Earlier, Straus had singled out the man facing an annoyed Erina as the Alpha male.

But to me there was another reason why he stood out amongst his peers.

It wasn’t his long, sandy hair, his tall build, and fine facial features that set him apart from the other security personnel. Nor was it his clothes that included a long, dark, mahogany trench coat over a matching business suit – entirely unbecoming in the summer heat that was steadily warming up the morning air. And it had nothing to do with him chatting to Erina as though she was an old acquaintance who was unhappy to see him.

No, that wasn’t it at all.

What made him stand out to me was the unnerving sensation I felt deep in Mirai’s gut, in her bones, in the muscles wrapped around them, and in the faint hairs along the nape of her neck as I walked closer to him.

Mirai’s intuition was telling me that this man was dangerous in a way that many men were not…and that some men hoped to be.

I chose to listen to her instincts and stopped several feet away from him.

Straus followed suit, coming to a halt a couple of feet off to my right.

As for Erina, she stood within arm’s length of the man in the mahogany trench coat, staring at me in disbelief darkened by anger. But before she could chastise or berate me for disobeying her instruction, the young man reached up and removed his dark sunglasses to reveal a pair of remarkable green eyes.

As those eyes met mine, I felt for myself the danger Mirai had perceived, and my breath caught in my chest for a heartbeat.

There’s a saying about smelling blood on a person.

Maybe this was what I was sensing now – the lingering scent of carnage surrounding him – and I steeled myself against it.

Normally, I would have folded my arms under Mirai’s impressive bust, but instead I allowed her instincts to take over. She stood with her arms by her sides, and her legs almost shoulder width apart. She wasn’t balancing on the balls of her feet – not yet – but her weight was evenly distributed, and her muscles were neither tense nor relaxed. Rather, she seemed ready to spring into action at the drop of a hat.

And yet one thing surprised me.

The sea breeze tousled Mirai’s hair, blowing it past my face, and in the corner of my eye, I glimpsed her long blonde locks.

Mirai hadn’t powered up.

I could sense that this man wasn’t to be trifled with, and Mirai was indeed standing at the ready, yet she was also holding herself back.

Why? What was she waiting for?

Wary and confused, I watched him smile faintly at me as we regarded each other in silence.

When he finally addressed me, he sounded almost carefree.

“Lady Isabel. Nice to see you up and about.”

His breezy manner briefly inflamed me.

I had to give myself a few moments before asking, “Who are you? You know me, but I don’t know you.”

Pocketing his sunglasses into a vest pocket, his smile grew wider.

Almost immediately, Mirai tensed up.

His apparently relaxed demeanor was at odds with mine, however he was standing with his body at a slight angle toward me. Even as he offered me a slight bow, his guarded stance convinced me not to override Mirai’s instincts in the slightest.

If she needed to move – if she wanted to move – she would do so without my restraint.

“Apologies, Lady Isabel. My name is Geharis Arnval. I’m head of Spartan Division.”

“What’s that?”

“Private security for the Sanreal Family…and the Telos Corporation.”

I swallowed quietly. “And why are you here?”

“We’re here to take you home.”

“Home?”

“To the Sanreal Family. To your family.”

I glanced at Erina who watching all this with a stiff expression, then faced Arnval again. “Are you planning on cutting me into three, and putting one piece into each car?”

Arnval’s lips twitched before he chortled. “Apologies, but we take your security quite seriously.”

I spared the building with the garden balcony a meaningful look. “Yeah, I guess you do.”

That earned me a grin from him. “Better safe than sorry.”

I swallowed down a snide retort and chose to wet my lips slowly as I studied him intently. However, there was only so much I could glean from just looking at him.

Unexpectedly, Arnval’s grin had grown uncertain under my quiet scrutiny.

I saw that as an opening I could exploit.

“You said it was good to see me up and about.”

“I did.”

“So we’ve met before.”

His grin wavered. “You could say that.”

“Then why don’t I remember you?”

There was a sudden mischievous glint in his eyes that made his grin appear cruel.

“Has anyone told you,” he asked, “that you look better as a brunette?”

It was extraordinary how swiftly he drew his gun.

Even as the words left his lips, his right-hand dove in and out of his trench coat with no visible acceleration.

Normally when someone moves – no matter how quickly – their limbs will noticeably accelerate. But with him, it was as though his arm had immediately achieved terminal velocity.

It wasn’t a ‘blink’ and miss it moment.

Rather, the moment didn’t exist.

Caught by surprise, I was slow to react…but not Mirai.

As Arnval’s right arm swung in my direction with gun in hand, she bolted toward him.

From a standing start, she – and thereby I – moved like lightning, halving the distance to him in an instant.

Before I knew it, my right foot had touched ground a millisecond before I kicked upwards with my left foot, connecting with his gun hand, and thereby throwing off his aim.

The impact caused him to squeeze the trigger.

The hammer clicked…but the gun didn’t fire.

Huh?

Confusion and disbelief rocked me.

Even as my leg completed its swing, knocking aside Arnval’s arm, I struggled to comprehend what had happened until I laid eyes on his grin.

Bastard!

I’d been played.

The gun hadn’t fired because it wasn’t loaded.

I look better as a brunette?

His motive abruptly made sense.

Arnval wanted to draw out Mirai – Dark Mirai – and he’d succeeded.

The moment Arnval reached for his gun and Mirai sprang into action, she had transformed from blonde to brunette. Powered up, my senses had sharpened to a razor’s edge, allowing me to perceive Arnval and my surroundings with extraordinary clarity, and that’s why I had time to consider the infuriating grin on his face.

However, something felt different.

My consciousness had overclocked, thus giving me the illusion that time had slowed down around me. But on this occasion, it appeared to have slowed down a little too much. For example, in my peripheral vision, I saw Erina surrounded by her golden lifeforce, standing motionless and not even breathing.

So too Straus, and the black suited bodyguards.

And there was more to it.

For a mere distended second, Mirai’s body had moved in harmony with my overclocked mind. I’d experienced this once before back on the roof of the maglev station when she’d unexpectedly kept pace with my accelerated consciousness, and that boost in speed had saved me from being struck by an electro-shock dart. Now, her phenomenal speed allowed me to kick away Arnval’s gun hand before he could aim it at me.

Of course, with the gun being unloaded there was no danger.

Arnval had toyed with me, and that made my innards burn from a mixture of humiliation and anger. But the prospect of a near miss chilled some of that rage. Had the gun fired, the bullet would have brushed by my left ear and taken some of Mirai’s raven hair with it.

However, another surprise awaited me.

Mirai had put a lot of her strength into her kick, but the heavy blow had merely nudged aside Arnval’s arm about a foot, and the bastard had held onto his sidearm.

Instead of seeing his wrist break on impact, it was my left foot that burned in agony as though I’d kicked a steel I-beam, and with time stretched out, the pain lasted for what felt like an eternity.

By now I didn’t care if the gun was loaded or not.

Disarming him wasn’t a priority anymore.

Instead, wiping the grin off his face had become paramount.

I was going to hurt this man for making a fool of me…and Mirai.

I was going to hurt him for hurting my foot.

But behind my determination to rip Arnval ‘a new one’, I was acutely aware that Mirai’s body was performing actions ingrained upon it and adhering to techniques that would have required countless hours of physical training to hone my legs into lethal weapons. It was akin to Mirai’s skillful use of firearms, wielding them as though she’d been using them for years. However, operating weapons wasn’t the same as executing precise martial actions, so why was I able to fight like a pro?

Ghost had said Mirai’s body had been imprinted with someone’s muscle memory.

It was the reason she could walk, run, and fight with such ease.

I didn’t know who they were – their identity was guarded behind a block of ICE that even Ghost couldn’t breach – but I was grateful to them because I was going to use their skills to knock Geharis Arnval into the middle of next week!

With my left foot back on the ground, I pivoted on it while swinging my right foot up at Arnval’s head.

I had to kick high because he was taller than me.

Fortunately, I was wearing a skirt that allowed my legs to move freely.

Unfortunately, said skirt was short and held nothing back as it fluttered around my thighs.

Knowing that I was flashing Arnval, my cheeks burned in shame.

Damn that Tabitha!

However, there was an upside to the situation.

Arnval’s attention had snapped to the racy black panties I wore.

Entranced by the vista between my legs, he left himself wide open and failed to block my kick.

My right foot slammed into the side of his head, spinning him around.

Then again, maybe his body was simply rolling with the kick – turning reflexively upon impact to dispel the energy behind the blow.

Regardless, for one precious second, Arnval had his back toward me, and Mirai capitalized on the moment.

Helped along by momentum, I continued turning my body, whirling on my right foot the instant it touched ground, then lashing out with my left leg.

Had he been facing me, I would have given him another view to remember and write home about as my skirt billowed upwards.

That does it—no more skirts for me!

But with his back toward me, the kick I landed booted him into the side of the black suburban parked behind him.

Newton said, for every reaction there’s an equal and opposite reaction, thus I rebounded away from Arnval.

I had to spin Mirai’s body to regain my balance, but once both feet were back on the ground, I leapt at him while he was still recovering from the combo kick.

That’s when I saw something unexpected and disturbing.

The lifeforce aura radiating from his body wasn’t complete.

Distracted, I almost crashed into him.

By then, Arnval had turned around and face me.

I had to scramble to grab his arms and pin him against the suburban’s door.

His gun wasn’t a concern anymore.

Rather, I wanted to bury him into the car’s door, but it wasn’t long before I started to worry, then panic, as I struggled against him.

Gods damn it—why is he so strong?

Tabitha had said I was six or seven times stronger than a girl my size. But it was taking every ounce of that strength to pin Arnval to the dented door, with my feet constantly slipping as they scrabbled for purchase on the grass underfoot.

Wait a minute—the car is dented?

Staring at Arnval, my eyes widened in dismay.

He’s not a machine avatar, so what the Hell is he?

Because of the lifeforce radiating from his eyes, I knew they were real, but what about the rest of him?

“What are you?” I hissed through clenched teeth, my breathing labored as I struggled to keep Arnval pressed into the suburban’s flank.

He was no different – his breathing short and shallow as we both huffed and puffed against each other.

“My, my,” he wheezed out through a twisted smile. “You really are a tiger.”

My body fully exerted, I sucked in air and then cried out, “Answer me!”

The strain was starting to get to him. “Is that…what you…really…want to know?”

I bent my legs slightly as my feet continued to slip and slide on the grass beneath them. “You didn’t need to pull a gun on me!”

“Ma chérie…I wanted…to see…the real…you.”

I scowled fiercely up at him. “Asshole! You could have just asked—oof!”

Preoccupied, I failed to notice his leg coming up until his knee buried itself into my gut.

Doubled over and winded, I tightened my stomach muscles, and refused to release his arms. But when I sensed his knee come up a second time, I evaded it by darting back.

Unfortunately, I had to relinquish my hold on him but not before delivering a parting gift.

As I retreated, I grabbed his gun and twisted it harshly with all the grip strength my left hand could muster.

Since he wasn’t going to let it go, then the least I could do was render it useless.

It didn’t break, but it did crack.

Releasing it, I then escaped beyond his reach.

With some distance between us, I slipped into a defensive stance.

If felt like the first round was over, but before round two got underway, I quickly glanced around to take stock of my surroundings. The security personnel had drawn their sidearms and were aiming them at me. In response, Straus had snatched Erina out of harm’s way, and retreated out of the line of fire where he was now shielding her with his body.

I could understand him wanting to protect her from stray gunfire, but it needled my ego.

Hey—shouldn’t you be protecting me? I’m your hope, aren’t I?

Movement caught my eye, yanking my attention back onto Arnval.

With some effort, he pushed himself away from the side of the large black suburban, then rolled his shoulders as though working the strain out of his muscles.

“Damn, you kick hard,” he muttered sourly.

Watching him intently, I studied his incomplete aura.

Maybe he was human, but not all of him.

A cyborg?

It certainly explained why his lifeforce only radiated from his head and torso, implying that his limbs were artificial.

It certainly explained why he was so strong.

Arnval gave the mangled firearm in his hand a disappointed look. “Damn, I really liked that gun.”

Holstering it with a grimace, he then waved at the surrounding security personnel.

“Stand down,” he instructed them while sounding inappropriately amused. “I said, stand down. No harm done. Everybody relax. That’s an order.”

He may have included me in that order, but I had no intention of dropping my guard.

Most of my attention remained focused on him, though I could see the security agents in my peripheral vision continue to aim their sidearms at me in defiance of his order. I also noticed the pale orange hue of their aura, identifying them as Simulacra.

Disposable labor, I thought with contempt until I remembered that Mirai too was a Simulacrum, although purportedly unique and far superior, and hardly disposable if one considered how much of a fuss people were making over her.

Arnval regarded his subordinates with growing impatience, and no longer sounded amused. “I said, stand down. That’s an order. If I have to repeat myself one more time, I’m going to start breaking arms.”

It didn’t seem like an idle threat, and it worked its magic.

In short order, the dark suited men and women holstered their weapons, albeit reluctantly.

“That’s better,” Arnval remarked with a thin smile of approval that quickly turned cruel. “But I’m going to have you running fifty laps around the compound when we get back. Disobey me again and I’ll make it a hundred.”

As he took a long stride away from the side of the suburban, I looked at where its door was dented as though rammed by a steel girder. Apparently, when I kicked Arnval in the back, he’d used his hands to brace himself against the door, and the impact had buckled the metal skin inward all the way to the crash bars.

Convinced he was a cyborg, I nonetheless asked him again, “What are you?”

Arnval frowned curiously at me but didn’t answer, so I pressed on.

“I know you’re not a Simulacrum. And you’re not a mechanical either. But you’re not human. So what the Hell are you?”

He cocked his head at me. “What makes you ask?”

“You’re strong like me, kicking you is like kicking a wall, and look at what you did to the car’s door.”

“You do have a point or two….” He broke into a thin smile. “You’re quite remarkable.”

I exhaled derisively through my nose. “Flattery will you get you nowhere.”

“And your speed surprised me. For a second, you vanished before my eyes.”

I mused that tidbit for a second.

Was he referring to when Mirai’s body had moved in time with my accelerated awareness?

But why was he telling me that? Wasn’t it better to keep it a secret?

Arnval gazed at me as though seeing me in a new light. “You certainly exceeded my expectations.”

His expectations?

“Should I say thanks?” I snarked at him.

“However, is it enough for you to survive?”

A frown flickered across my brow.

I couldn’t remember a specific occasion, but I had the feeling that someone had asked me that before. Or was it just a figment of my imagination? Was it something that I’d asked myself instead? Nonetheless, I understood what he was alluding to.

“You’re talking about the Gun Princess Royale.”

He replied with a nod.

I tried hiding how anxious the question made me feel behind a casual shrug. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

“True. Then we’ll know if the work they put into you paid off.”

That brought a chill to my chest. “What work…?”

“I wonder if she’ll be proud of you.”

My stance faltered as a wave of uncertainty and confusion washed over me.

Is he referring to Erina?

I threw my former sister a fleeting glance and saw that she was still hiding behind Straus’s mechanical avatar, her expression one of abject frustration.

Honestly, it was the closest I’d seen her come to biting through her nails.

Turning back to Arnval, I cleared my throat before declaring, “You’re a real asshole—not answering my questions.”

He dismissed my insult with a shrug. “That’s also true. But I’ll answer your questions if they’re the right—”

Without warning, he abruptly looked northward.

Surprised, I almost turned to look myself, but held back because I was wary of being tricked by him, until a moment later when I noticed the Spartan security people reach for their guns.

Only then did I risk following his gaze.

What I saw made my blood run cold.

In the distance, a few hundred feet away to the north, a lone teenage girl wearing a Telos Academy high school summer uniform was walking toward us across the parkland. Her long dark hair and attractive oval face brought back memories of when we first met a few days ago.

Little did I know then how much trouble she would turn out to be.

Striding toward us, the troublesome teenage girl threw us a wave. However, true to her eccentric nature, she was waving both her arms in the air. She was like Robinson Crusoe desperately flagging down a passing ship. Quite clearly she was looking for attention, and her off-kilter approach worked because everyone around me was staring at her, and no one was happy to see her.

Arnval regarded her with veiled hostility.

The security personnel were itching to unleash Hell upon her.

Erina was glaring at her with such intensity the air almost crackled around her.

Straus’s fingers twitched as though he was missing his favorite gun.

And me?

Nope, I wasn’t happy to see her either.

I had grudge against her, and I wasn’t going to forgive her for the traumatic experience she’d subjected me to back in the stairwell. As for her bribe, she could keep it because I would find another way to meet my Goddess.

Yes, the girl walking toward us was none other than Tabitha Hexen, otherwise known as Taura Hexaria Erz Cardinal.

Arnval slashed the air with his right arm, stopping the Spartan personnel from shooting a storm of bullets at her.

“Stand down,” he snapped while staring at Tabitha with merciless eyes.

The black suited men and women were reluctant to follow his order, but no one risked his wrath by continuing to point their gun at Tabitha.

Arnval spoke again, but I quickly realized he was having a conversation with someone out of sight. I couldn’t see him wearing an earpiece or earbud, so perhaps the transceiver was implanted into his skull. Whatever means he was using to communicate with the unseen party, Arnval sounded grimly unhappy at what he was hearing.

“Did she translocate?” he asked. “She did? Damn it! She must have had a beacon nearby. No, it’s fine. We can search for it later. We all knew she was going to be hard to track—no hold off on that for the moment.” He shook his head stiffly. “Tell them we’ll be coming soon…no, I’d rather avoid trouble with her if I can. Just cover us as best you can…yes, if she makes a move, shoot her. That’s a machine avatar, so aim for her head.” I caught the glance he gave me. “I’m almost tempted to hear her out, but I’m not that foolish. If she gets too close, take her down.” He paused. “How close? Take her down at a hundred feet.”

Ghost stepped into my view. “I should have known better, Princess.”

Distracted, I whispered back, “Known what?”

“That Hexaria would embed tracking filaments into your uniform. That is undoubtedly how she kept tabs on your location.”

I trembled as though electrocuted.

My gods! She tracked me the same way Erina did!

When I recovered, I started pulling at the uniform I was wearing.

“I—I gotta take this off….”

Abruptly, Arnval crossed the short distance between us and firmly grabbed onto my left arm. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking this off!”

He frowned, stared at my uniform, then shook his head. “Not out here. Get in the car. We’re leaving.”

For a half-second, I gaped at him in confusion but then angrily yanked my arm back.

Unfortunately, he held onto me with an iron grip, and though he staggered, he refused to release me.

“Let me go or lose the arm!” I warned him.

Regaining his footing, Arnval hauled me toward him.

I didn’t know if he was stronger than me, but he was certainly far heavier, and that gave him an advantage in our tug-of-war. He pulled me so close that I stared up at him cross-eyed, then coldly whispered, “I presume you know who she is?”

The danger and menace I’d felt surrounding him earlier was now palpable in the air. It wrapped around me, stifling my struggles against him.

Arnval persisted. “You know who she is…don’t you?”

Despite my anger, the scent of blood and violence in his breath chilled me to the bone.

I swallowed with some difficulty and haltingly nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, she told me—”

“And you know what she is.”

I nodded again. “A…a machine avatar.”

“Good. Then I’ll make this short.” He drew back a little so that I no longer looked at him cross-eyed. “Hexaria has been playing with us all morning. Jumping around the city, making it difficult for us to track her until she showed up at your door. But after the two of you left the apartment, we lost her in the building. And now she’s here. We don’t know her game, so our priority is to get you out of the city until House Novis can deal with House Cardinal in the Imperial Court.” He cocked his head at me. “Is this getting through to you?”

Some of the fight I’d lost was making a comeback.

Clearing my throat, I did my best to match his icy tone. “Yeah, I get it. Now let me go, or else!”

Arnval jerked me so harshly it blurred my vision, then he yanked me close to him again.

“Not happening! Hexaria is here for you. Why? I’ve got a few guesses. But I’m not going to waste time asking you if they’re right or wrong.”

I clamped my jaw shut then pushed against Arnval’s chest with enough force to get some distance between us that he could do nothing about.

Tabitha was right—I am bloody strong.

But my uniform wasn’t, so I stopped pushing against him when it began to rip.

Arnval shook his head slowly. “I’m not letting you go, ma chérie.”

I exhaled loudly in frustration.

Pressing my lips tightly together, I shot a glance at Ghost standing beside Arnval unbeknownst to him.

In reply, he shrugged as if to say, It is your call, Princess.

My attention then fell on Tabitha walking steadily toward us, probably a hundred meters away now.

Damn her! This is all her fault!

I met Arnval’s frosty gaze, then took a ragged breath that made my chest shudder. “Whatever we talked about…is between her and I.”

He accepted that with a nod. “She offered you a place in House Cardinal, didn’t she?”

Arnval had hit the nail on the head, but Straus had figured it out as well, so perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a shock to me.

Yet it did, and my heart jumped forcefully in my chest.

Of course, Arnval noticed my reaction.

“Hexaria made you an offer.” He snorted loudly. “Did you give her an answer?”

With the cat out of the bag, I felt I had no choice but to be honest with him. “No…I didn’t.”

“Thanks, that’s all I needed to know.”

He suddenly released me.

I stumbled but caught my balance before I could fall onto my backside. “Do that again, and I swear I will—wah!”

Without warning, he scooped me up and tossed me over his right shoulder like a bag of cement.

“What the Hell?” I yelled at him.

If I hadn’t been so distracted – and if Mirai had been her usual razor-sharp self – he wouldn’t have caught me by surprise. But now I watched the parkland spin crazily around me as Arnval whirled on the spot and then ran the short distance to the idling suburbans. Hearing the gentle thrum of their engines, I immediately knew they were hybrids running hydro-fusion drives, and that meant these vehicles were some serious road machines. However, that was something that I noticed in passing because most of my attention was on Arnval’s back and on the ground above my head – or rather below me.

Grabbing onto his back for support, I readied myself to ram a knee into his chest.

“PUT. ME. DOWN—!”

“Raine, take the shot.”

I froze and missed my chance to knee Arnval in the solar plexus.

Despite Mirai’s abnormally sharp hearing, I heard no boom and no explosion as I frantically swung my head in Tabitha’s direction.

A split second late and I would have missed it.

Whatever kind of bullet struck her head did so with enough force to slam Tabitha bodily into the grass.

I knew it was a machine – a Gun Princess avatar – but nonetheless it was chilling to watch her fall and then lie still.

Abruptly, my body was flipped over and dropped to the ground.

I landed on my feet as my back struck something hard and cold, probably one of the black suburbans. In the corner of my eyes, I was aware of Arnval in front of me, and some of the security people moving quickly to secure Erina and Straus by urging them into one of the waiting vehicles, but most of my attention was on Tabitha lying motionless and prone on the grass.

Moments later, she vanished.

For a second before she disappeared, the air around Tabitha shimmered then spun in a vortex that consumed her body, as if sucking her away through an invisible hole in the air.

I gaped in disbelief until Arnval slapped my cheeks none-to-gently.

“Hey, focus,” he snapped at me.

That served to jar my mind back into gear, and I faced him with a little fire in my eyes. “That hurt.”

“Good.”

“And she’s gone.”

“Of course, she’s gone,” Arnval grumbled while pulling open the door to the vehicle behind me. “Do you really think she’d leave her machine body around for people to find?”

He pushed me into the suburban’s passenger cabin.

I landed heavily on the backseat, but quickly sat up. “You shot her!”

“Oh, you noticed?” he snarked.

“Why the frek did you do that for?”

Arnval leaned into the cabin. “When dealing with Hexaria, that’s standard operating procedure.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she’s unpredictable, and she followed you here.”

I shook my head in dismay. “But you’ve got it wrong. She’s not here to kidnap me. She could have done that back at the dormitory.”

He hesitated. “She said that?”

“Yes, she did!” I insisted loudly before lowering my voice. “She said that stealing me away would lead to a war, and that she’s not stupid enough to start one!”

Arnval snorted then smiled thinly at me. “If kidnapping you may start a war, then why is she here?”

I frowned at him in confusion.

What is he saying? No—what is he trying to tell me?

“You think about that,” he suggested before slamming the door shut.

Alone in the back seat, I blinked slowly, then absently gazed at the plush interior while my mind struggled to sort through the tangled situation. Because of this, I was late to notice that I wasn’t alone in the suburban.

A young Simulacrum woman sat in the driver’s seat. Dressed in a black business suit, she watched me over her shoulder with a cool smile.

“Hi there. I’m Marinette.”

Distracted as I was, I nonetheless acknowledged her with a nod.

I also admitted she was quite pretty.

Possibly in her late teens, she had shoulder length brown hair, a classic oval face, a small mouth below a pert nose, thin eyebrows and violet, almond eyes that gave her an exotic appearance. Of course, she didn’t compare to my goddess, but this teenage girl was indeed a head turner.

It made me wonder if she’d been deliberately designed that way.

There’s a saying that good looks can carry you far, but why gift a Simulacrum with such beauty?

I didn’t get to mull that over because the passenger door on the other side of the car was suddenly flung open, and Erina was practically tossed into the cabin. She landed beside me on the backseat, her rich shoulder length hair in disarray, her expression steeped in panic and confusion as she stared at me with wide eyes.

“Isabel—eep!”

She almost jumped out of her skin when her door was slammed shut behind her.

It was somewhat pleasing to see Erina stripped of her usual arrogance.

Not being in control was certainly doing a number on her.

Oddly, I didn’t feel like gloating, probably because by then I’d realized what Arnval had hinted at.

Tabitha hadn’t come for me.

She’d come for Erina, and if they nabbed her, then Tabitha and House Cardinal could use Erina as leverage against me. I needed Erina because she knew what made Mirai tick, so where Erina went, I was bound to follow. That was probably Tabitha’s reasoning, but Arnval had been expecting her to show up, and Renew had sniped her from across the street.

She wasn’t there just for me. She was waiting for Tabitha.

That grim realization led to another.

Arnval had used me as bait.

He’d used me to draw out Tabitha.

That sonavabitch!

And yet though I cursed him, I couldn’t deny that his reasoning made a dark kind of sense. It also made me briefly wonder at the pressures he was under to go that far. But then again, wasn’t it also a risk to expose me out in the open this way.

No, because I’m not Tabitha’s target.

Then again, did he know that?

Nonetheless, the thought made me stare at Erina with complicated feelings, until I wondered that if she was here, then where was Straus?

Up front, Arnval hastily climbed into the passenger seat beside Marinette.

“Go,” he commanded even as he was closing his door.

Wordlessly, Marinette dropped the big vehicle into gear and floored the accelerator.

“Hey, wait a minute,” I cried out. “What about—?”

The hydro-fusion turbine revved, cutting me off, and the heavy suburban shivered as though gathering itself like a large predatory beast eager to make a kill. Yet when it launched itself, there was no shrieking from the tires. Instead, the vehicle pulled away with a minimum of fuss, though the swift acceleration pressed me hard into the backseat.

Over a shoulder, Arnval snapped at Erina and I. “Both of you buckle up now!”

I bit back a retort as I busied myself with my seatbelt.

I suspected the suburban was equipped with a myriad array of safety devices – undoubtedly more than was standard – but there was something oddly reassuring to wearing a seatbelt.

I had it secured around me long before Erina who fumbled with hers for several seconds. By all appearances, the current situation had dramatically rattled her, yet my suspicious nature mused if it was nothing more than an act. Unwilling to discount that possibility, I shelved it for the time being, then leaned toward the middle of the cabin for a better view out the front windscreen as the large vehicle deftly changed lanes.

Marinette had slipped on a pair of sunglasses, and from the backseat, I glimpsed something on the inside of their lenses.

Is she following some sort of map? I wondered.

It was possible that an Assisting Intelligence was providing her with directions and recommending lane changes. This would explain how she was able to make short work of the morning traffic.

My next question was where were we going?

I could see the harbor to my left, and Mirai’s magnetic sense was telling me we were heading south along Ring Zero, but our destination was a mystery.

I thought about asking Ghost if he knew where we were headed, but then decided instead to thump the back of Arnval’s seat to get his attention. “Where are you taking us?”

“To a secure location,” he bluntly replied.

“Where?” I insisted.

It was Erina who answered me. “The Telos Corporation building.”

“No.” Arnval shook his head swiftly. “We have somewhere else in mind.”

Erina stared questioningly at the back of his head. “She won’t go there.”

“I won’t risk leading her anywhere near HQ.”

I shrugged in confusion. “I don’t understand. You believe she’ll follow us? But you shot her. You took out her avatar—”

“Hexaria has more than one,” he bitterly replied.

I sat back in the seat, feeling stupid for having asked the question.

Yes, of course she would.

However, my next question wasn’t so inane. “What about my uniform? Won’t she track us?”

Arnval glanced at Marinette. “Take us deep.”

She replied without taking her eyes off the road. “You want us under the city?”

“Take the Under-16 all the way to Ring Five.”

The young woman winced slightly. “Damn.”

“What?”

“We just missed the entrance.”

Arnval exhaled in disappointment. “Then take the—”

The hydro-fusion drive roared, silencing Arnval as Marinette suddenly downshifted and threw the suburban into a sharp U-turn across multiple lanes.

Inside the vehicle, we were tossed to one side of the cabin.

Erina screamed and I clung onto an armrest while Arnval braced himself against his door.

“Jeezes, Marinette—!” he cried out.

“Please don’t talk,” the young woman advised, “or you’ll bite your tongue.”

There was a hard bump – more like a lurch – and the suburban bounced over the median strip.

It dove into the fast traffic heading north, merging with it in a heartbeat.

Shaken but not stirred, we were now zooming northward along the multilane street.

By some miracle we had avoided colliding with anyone, but Erina was looking green, and I had cracked the armrest, while Arnval had to extricate himself from his door.

He scowled at Marinette. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Nope.”

“Do you have any idea how much data we’ll have to erase to hide that crazy stunt you just pulled?”

She calmly replied, “We have a Tempest Class Awareness working for us. Editing the recorded footage from the traffic cameras won’t be a problem for her.”

Arnval straightened in his seat. “One of these days you’ll be the death of me.”

“Oh, contraire. I promised Renew I’d take good care of you.”

He scowled at her again. “You are aware of the importance of our cargo?”

Sitting beside me, Erina laughed nervously as she clutched her door’s armrest and stared vacantly out her window. “Now I’m cargo….”

Ignoring my former sister who was wallowing in a reality check, I frowned at the Simulacrum woman behind the steering wheel.

I thought Clarisol was crazy, but this girl takes the cake!

Marinette hummed to herself. “Under-16…Under-16—there you are!”

She spun the steering wheel and the suburban swerved smoothly across five lines of flowing traffic. Again, I feared we would sideswipe the cars around us, but somehow the big boxy vehicle avoided a collision, and moments later it was hurtling down a wide ramp at near breakneck speed. Before long, we’d entered a subterranean realm beneath the city, crisscrossed by a warren of tunnels.

“…we’re going to die…going to die....”

That came from Erina who was still clutching at her door’s armrest with a white knuckled grip.

Twisting around in his seat, Arnval studied her for a second before facing Marinette.

“She’s right. With your driving, we’re going to die before Hexaria gets to us.”

“You’re assuming she can catch us,” Marinette countered. “Even if she translocates throughout the city, she’ll be on foot whereas we’re on wheels. And she’ll have trouble tracking us with so much noise around us”—she pointed upwards—“because we’re under the city.”

At the mention of being tracked, I grimaced at my uniform before asking, “So Tabitha can’t follow us?”

Arnval twisted around a little more in his seat for a better look at me. “Down here, it’s unlikely your uniform will give away our location.”

Marinette jumped in. “However, House Cardinal is using a Conquistador Class Awareness to spy on the city—”

“—and it’s going toe-to-toe with our Tempest Class,” Arnval cut her off, sounding annoyed.

But Marinette wasn’t done. “Yep, yep. So there’s a battle going on between their super Awareness and our super Awareness.”

“Why?” I asked.

Marinette started to answer, “That’s because—”

“Marinette.”

“Yes?”

“Focus on driving.”

“Yep, yep….”

Arnval eyed her with distrust while he gave me a proper answer. “House Cardinal is making use of Libra to spy on you.”

The name rang a bell with me. “Tabitha mentioned them. What are they?”

“They’re a division within the Gun Princess Royale’s Battle Commission. They keep tabs on people of interest to the Battle Commission, and you are a person of interest. Unfortunately, Libra is a puppet of House Cardinal. But Spartan has sufficient resources in Ar Telica to match them, which is why Marinette here can pull off stunt driving in the middle of the city and not get us arrested. We can hide ourselves from the traffic and surveillance grid.”

“And the cars around us,” Marinette chimed in.

Arnval scowled at her yet again. “Yes, and the cars around us….”

I cut in to ask, “Then we’re invisible to the city’s eyes?”

“More or less,” she answered, earning herself another dark look from her boss.

I shrugged in confusion. “Why are you so afraid of Tabitha?”

My question appeared to strike a nerve.

Marinette hesitated in her driving, and Arnval regarded me with a hard stare.

“I’m not afraid of Tabitha,” he declared, “but she is a complication.”

“Why?”

His face grew grim. “Because Hexaria has been playing a frustrating game of tit-for-tat with us for most of the morning.”

“Meaning what?”

His grim expression darkened. “Spartan and Libra have a network of trans-location beacons throughout the city. It allows operatives using machine avatars or portable beacons to hop all over the place. That was until this morning.”

“What happened this morning?”

“Hexaria decided to knock out our trans-location beacons. In return, Spartan has been locating her beacons and putting them out of commission. For now, we’re ahead. Seventeen beacons to thirteen. But finding them is proving difficult.” He pursed his lips unhappily before admitting, “And Renew missed the beacon Hexaria had planted in the dorm building…though it wasn’t for lack of trying.”

I gave him another confused shrug. “Why is she doing this? Is Tabitha picking a fight with you—with the Sanreals?”

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “She hasn’t engaged any of our people. She’s avoided them. But there’s no doubt she’s been playing with us. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s doing all this to distract us.”

“From what?”

“That’s a good question. What we do know is that House Cardinal has expressed an interest in you.”

“But I told you already—Tabitha said the Empress had labelled me off-limits.”

“That’s precisely why Hexaria’s antics are troubling. If you’re off limits, why go this far?”

Arnval was watching me, yet it seemed as though he was watching Erina as well.

That alone silenced me.

Taking that silence for an answer, he humphed to himself, then turned around and sat properly in his seat.

I sat back as well and considered what I’d learnt thus far.

However, in the corner of my eye, I noticed Erina contemplating Arnval with a silent, thoughtful mien.

Had she figured out what he’d left unsaid?

Knowing her, she was probably considering numerous possibilities far ahead of Arnval’s various trains of thought.

Nonetheless, it seemed safe to say that we’d all arrived at the same conclusion.

Tabitha wanted me, but to get me she first needed Erina.

---

Thank you for getting this far. I haven't posted recently because I've been busy with work and writing a brand new series, while working on the sequel to the new The Gun Princess Royale that's on Amazon. Learning how to use Meta/Facebook ads better. If anyone has suggestions on how to promote this series, I would really appreciate. I remember there being a book reviewer who only reviewed gender-bender and transgender stories. I just can't remember her name now. It's been more than years since I submitted the original series to her.

I will continue to post the rest of this book while chapters remain.

A reminder that Book 1 of the newly reimagined & rebooted series, The Gun Princess Royale, is available for purchase or reading on Kindle Unlimited. More than two years of writing have gone into it. Please check it out. It's 873 pages so the sample for reading on Amazon is a whopping 87 pages.

A happy & safe 2024 to all of you.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages.

---

When Arnval turned away, all conversation within the suburban sharply died, and I didn’t feel like picking up where he left off. Thus, the cabin was shrouded in silence as Marinette deftly drove at high speed through the multilane traffic travelling down the I-16, an enormous tunnel that traversed the city from deep underground.

The rhythmic nature of the traffic around us was a signature sign that the vehicles were being operated by their onboard Assisting Intelligences, rather than by the humans sitting behind the steering wheel. In a way, so too was Marinette because she was following instructions that I occasionally glimpsed projected on the inside of her sunglasses.

It made me wonder to what extent our lives were influenced by the Assisting Intelligences and Artificial Awarenesses that kept the city running smoothly.

Maybe influenced wasn’t strong enough a word.

Should I say controlled instead?

And if I thought of it along those lines, how much of my present predicament was the result of some A.I. or smartass Awareness playing a game of chess with us as pieces on a board. Was something or someone out there running strategic simulations on how we would all react to a multitude of situations?

In that case, what was my role?

Was I a queen, a knight…or a pawn?

I frowned as I looked out my window and wondered if it wasn’t my role that was important but Mirai’s very existence.

In other words, how valuable was she to others?

I already knew she was important to Erina and House Sanreal, but was she worth all this trouble to House Cardinal?

My thoughts circled back to what Tabitha had told me back in the dormitory apartment.

House Cardinal believed Erina was in trouble and they were willing to offer her sanctuary from House Novis. But they also wanted me to compete for them in the Gun Princess Royale because Tabitha said I had the makings of a future Gun Empress.

Could I trust what she’d told me?

Based on recent events, trusting Tabitha was foolhardy.

It was like skating on thin ice.

Yet what if she’d spoken the truth?

Should I confront Erina and ask her if she had betrayed House Novis to the Empress in order to stop Clarisol from taking Mirai’s body for her own? And was House Novis truly thinking of taking their pound of flesh from my former sister?

I’d told Tabitha I didn’t care what the Sanreal Family did to Erina, yet that wasn’t true because a teensy, weensy part of me continued to feel a familial attachment to her. Thus, if Erina was indeed in trouble with House Novis could I abandon her to her fate, or could I protect her by accepting Tabitha’s offer?

Honestly, I didn’t know but considering what I’d endured as a result of Erina’s actions, I was a little surprised to find myself caring about what happened to her, and I saw this as a sign of weakness within me.

If Erina knew how I felt, she would probably laugh.

My eyes sharply narrowed as a dark thought scurried across my mind.

What if she does know? What if she’s relying on me to protect her when the time comes?

If that was true, then Erina was a bigger opportunist than I could have imagined. But it also meant that she knew me better than I knew myself.

In a solemn voice, Marinette lifted the shroud of silence within the cabin by announcing we were nearing our destination.

I focused my attention on what I could see out the windows as the large suburban powered out of the immense tunnel by driving up an inclined exit. Seconds later, we emerged back into daylight that was filtered at an angle between the city’s towering megascrapers. This gave the streets a striped appearance.

Marinette drove the suburban down a main street for a few hundred meters, then maneuvered over to the kerb by cutting across a handful of lanes, before slowing to turn into a side street.

Looking up at the buildings surrounding us, I tried to get my bearings.

Failing that, I anxiously cleared my throat before asking, “Where are we?”

I hate to admit it, but I sounded a lot more subdued than usual. Being burdened with more questions than answers was weighing heavily on me.

Surprisingly, Arnval sounded a little somber himself.

“Ring Three, District Eleven,” he replied as Marinette steered the suburban off the street and into a building’s side entrance. It was wide enough for heavy rigs to pass through and led into a large subterranean loading dock. The place was far from deserted, with workers and forklifts hurrying about as they loaded and unloaded numerous parked delivery trucks.

Marinette was unusually careful as she drove the car across the expansive loading area toward a set of garages located at one end of the dock.

She stopped in front of a garage, waited for the door to roll up, then parked the car inside.

After switching off the engine, she gave Arnval an expectant look. “We go?”

“We go,” Arnval agreed as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “Everybody out,” he commanded before climbing out of the big suburban.

Erina and Marinette exited the suburban quickly, but I hesitated before opening my door because Mirai’s nape tingled.

Maybe she was getting a bad vibe, but I had little choice but to get out of the car.

With a curt wave, Arnval gestured for us to follow him. “Move it. We don’t have much—”

He stopped sharply as a second black suburban almost ran him down as it thundered to a halt across the garage’s exit. Before he could yell at the driver, the passenger door was flung open and a young Simulacrum woman jumped out.

She circled around the front of the idling suburban as it rumbled like an impatient beast.

“New orders,” she reported while pointing at me. “We need her clothes.”

“Huh?” I gasped loudly and stared at her in confusion.

Arnval stood perplexed but a second later he snapped his fingers as though comprehending the method behind the madness.

He whirled around and instructed me in a clipped tone. “Change clothes with her.”

“What?” I gaped at him and the girl in turn. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious.”

Somewhere off to my left, I heard someone – probably Marinette – stifling her laughter.

It sparked a rebellious fire within me.

“Not happening,” I snapped.

Arnval strode up to me. “Listen to me because I’m only going to say this once.” He risked life and limb by poking Mirai’s chest. “We’re going to lead Hexaria across the city on a wild goose chase, and we’re going to use your uniform to do so.”

The penny dropped somewhere in the depths of my mind. “Oh….”

“Now strip and change clothes with her.”

Arnval pointed at the Simulacrum girl and she sheepishly waved back at me.

I ran my gaze over her a couple of times, hesitated over her bust, then remarked sourly, “Her clothes won’t fit me.”

I have to mention that the first place Arnval looked was down at Mirai’s chest.

“Hmm,” he murmured then turned to regard the Simulacrum girl who squeaked and covered her meagre bosom. “You’re right.”

“Yep, your plan’s a bust. Pun intended.”

“Oh really?” Arnval inspected Marinette’s appearance for a second before coming to a decision. “Change with her.”

“What?”

I looked at Marinette who’d been hiding her smile behind a palm.

She stopped smiling in a hurry. “Excuse me?”

“Strip and change with her,” Arnval said. “Hurry, before Hexaria gets here.”

Marinette grew rigid for a moment before she wilted. “As you wish.” Exhaling loudly, she then waved at the open garage door. “Everybody out.”

Arnval backed away and Erina hurried out of the garage.

Marinette then walked over to a big red push button mounted to the wall beside the entrance. When she slapped it hard, the roller door came down automatically, sealing her and I inside the garage. Weak lighting from overhead strip lights spared us from having to change our clothes in the dark. She undressed behind the suburban, but I chose to strip out of my uniform by hiding beside the vehicle.

My whole body trembled.

I was embarrassed while also exceedingly nervous.

Marinette was a Simulacrum, but she was nonetheless a pretty brunette with shoulder length auburn hair, and I soon discovered she had an abundant chest as well.

She came into view when she rounded the back of the suburban, carrying her clothes in a neat bundle, including her low-heeled boots.

At sight of her naked body, I cried out and dropped my clothes as I slapped my hands over my eyes.

That earned me a stifled laugh from Marinette. “We’re both girls you know.”

No, we are NOT! Definitely NOT!

Then realizing I was naked as well, I hurriedly squatted and turned away from her. “Just leave the clothes there,” I bade her in a trembling voice.

“Oh, brother,” she breathed out. “Here. And I’ll take these—oh, you are a big girl…”

I flushed hotly knowing full well she was referring to Mirai’s bountiful chest.

“Can you just go now!” I hissed at her while feeling my cheeks and neck burn from embarrassment.

“If you don’t hurry, I’ll open the door.”

In a panic, I stopped covering my eyes and glared at her. “Don’t you dare—ah!”

Marinette was getting in dressed in full view of me.

Forgetting myself, I stared at her in awe of her smooth, alabaster skin and slim body.

Wow….

I couldn’t disagree with Arnval.

She does have a big bust.

“I’m opening that door soon,” she warned me.

I choked in fright that quickly turned into panic. Grabbing the bundle of her clothes that she’d deposited on the ground beside me, I turned my back to her, then fumbled with the unfamiliar outfit.

I can’t believe I’m doing this! This is all Tabitha’s fault!

Dark thoughts ran through my head as I pictured what I’d do to Tabitha if and when I got my hands on her.

To my relief, Marinette wore a white sports bra. That made it easier for me to slip Mirai’s bosom into it though her breasts stretched the material to its limits. After that came the white, high cut, hipster briefs, followed by the white blouse and dark business suit. Mirai was a little taller than Marinette so the trouser legs felt marginally short, but otherwise the suit – with its peaked lapel and feminine cut – was a very close fit.

Then came the ankle boots.

Slipping Mirai’s feet into them, I found myself standing on a two-inch heel that tested my balance. I had to take a few cautious practice steps to get a feel for walking in the unfamiliar boots.

Standing nearby, Marinette suggested I straighten my back when walking. “Push out your chest a little more and pull your shoulders back. It’ll help you balance.”

I followed her advice, though I felt overly self-conscious under her gaze.

She nodded very faintly before smiling in admiration. “You look good.”

That was all I needed to hear.

Blushing red, I glared at her but was distracted by a loud banging on the garage’s metal door.

From outside, Arnval demanded to know, “What’s the hold up?”

Dressed in my Telos Academy uniform, Marinette skipped over to the door’s control button, then gave it hard slap.

As the door spooled upwards, I felt like I was standing on a stage with the curtain being raised, revealing me to an impatient audience.

There was a long moment of stunned silence as I was stared at by Arnval, Erina, and the young Simulacrum woman.

However, their attention quickly shifted onto Marinette when she asked, “What do you think?” She then surprised everyone by striking a girlish pose. “Do I look like a high school senior?”

Upon hearing that, the trio scrutinized her a little more closely. Soon, they were nodding to themselves in admiration before trading mysterious looks.

“What do you think?” Erina asked. “Could she do it?”

“I think she looks good,” the young woman replied. “Very believable as a high school girl.”

As for Arnval, he thoughtfully stroked his chin. “I’ll admit, she’s a head turner.”

Erina and the young woman gave him dark looks that he promptly noticed.

“What?” he asked.

My former sister narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s your assessment of her? That she’s a head turner.”

“Do you disagree?”

“That’s not the point we were trying to make.”

“I’m fully aware of what you were trying to say.”

Marinette slowly raised a hand. “Excuse me…I was joking.”

However, her remark was taken seriously by Erina. “Her believability as a high school girl is something worth considering. Especially now that Isabel will soon be attending school.”

Arnval nodded in agreement. “We’ll need discuss it later.”

Marinette shook her head. “No, really. I was just joking.”

“And I said we’ll talk about it later.”

She raised both hands as though warding him away. “Boss, seriously. I’m too old to be a high school girl. I mean, just look at me.”

I frowned weakly at her. “Actually, you look a lot younger than Erina.”

“What was that?” Erina fumed at me.

I sneered faintly at her. “I said, she looks a lot younger than you. She can easily pass for a high school senior.”

As Erina glared hotly at me, Marinette grew pale and started edging out of the garage as though intending to escape.

Unfortunately for her, Arnval grabbed her by the arm before she could flee.

“Come on,” he growled. “We’ve wasted enough time here.”

He pulled her toward the rumbling suburban awaiting nearby.

“Wait,” she protested. “I can’t drive in these shoes.”

“You won’t be driving. You’ll be sitting in the back.”

Opening a rear passenger door, Arnval hustled Marinette into the backseat, while the other Simulacrum woman resumed riding shotgun up front.

“Hold on,” Marinette objected. “I’m not accustomed to being a passenger.”

“It’ll be safer for them if you don’t drive.”

“But my hair is too short.”

“The windows are tinted.”

“But Lady Isabel’s breasts are much bigger than mine.”

Arnval leaned close to her. “Do you seriously think Hexaria will notice?”

“Maybe? I don’t know! But still—”

“Mari!”

He cut her off sharply, eliciting a surprised squeak from Marinette. “Y—Yes?”

Despite standing some distance behind him, I could clearly hear the concern in his voice. “Watch yourself out there. Hexaria is—”

“—unpredictable,” Marinette agreed in a suddenly somber tone, but then smiled confidently up at him. “Don’t worry. We’ll be careful. Besides, we have Raine covering us from above. And we have the rest of Spartan watching our backs.”

That may have reassured Arnval.

I couldn’t see his face from where I was standing, but I saw him nod at her before he firmly closed the passenger door.

Through the tinted window, I watched Marinette’s faint silhouette wave goodbye as the suburban backed up a few feet. The boxy vehicle then executed a tight, three-quarter turn before racing out of the loading bay. It narrowly avoided a delivery truck that was nosing into the entrance and soon roared out of sight.

Leaning sideways for a better look at Arnval, I noticed his jaw muscles twitching after he’d witnessed the near miss.

I couldn’t stop myself from needling him. “Didn’t you say they’d be safer if she wasn’t driving?”

Clearly not amused, Arnval inhaled loudly as he regarded me over a shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Just follow me,” he gruffly replied before marching swiftly toward the back of the loading bay.

I snickered as I watched him walk away but was distracted when I noticed Erina quietly appraising me. “What? If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”

“The clothes do make the woman,” she observed. “You make quite the lovely young lady…when your mouth is shut.”

At first, I blushed in embarrassment, then my cheeks grew hot with anger.

However, I decided not to lash out at her.

Why? Because I felt that somehow I just had to break free of that vicious cycle.

Getting angry at Erina wasn’t doing me any good.

That’s the short answer.

I’ll save the long answer for another time.

However, having said all that, I couldn’t restrain myself from sniping at her. “Are you telling me that I have a future in private security—?”

As soon as the words left my lips, I experienced an epiphany that felt like warm sunlight on a winter’s day.

“That it!” I cried out.

“That’s what?” Erina questioned me.

“I can be Mercy’s bodyguard!” I clapped my hands over Mirai’s chest. “Even better—I can be Mercy’s double and keep her safe from her raving fans!”

Erina appeared deeply skeptical. “You get anxiety attacks in a crowd, and you’re going to protect Mercy Haddaway?”

My elation cracked and crumbled.

Damn it…she has a point, I grudgingly admitted then flinched sharply when Arnval suddenly appeared before me.

“If you two are done discussing career choices—let’s go!”

And with that, he again stormed off to the back of the loading bay.

Erina took a deep breath, and then shook her head while briefly closing her eyes. “Come on before he decides to come back.”

As she walked after Arnval, I remembered the roller door was up. Ducking into the garage, I slapped the push button against the wall, then hurried out as the door came down.

I jogged lightly after Erina and almost twisted an ankle in the process. Catching myself at the last moment, I regained my balance then walked, rather than ran, after my former sister.

Falling into step beside her, I curiously asked, “So where are we? What is this place?”

“My guess, it’s a subsidiary of the Telos Corporation.” Erina walked a little faster and beckoned me to hurry. “We’re being left behind.”

Arnval had arrived at the elevated rear of the loading bay.

While there were no trucks on the high ground, numerous forklifts zipped about as they ferried cargo pallets between storerooms and waiting vehicles.

I kept a close eye on my surroundings lest I find myself swept up in the frantic ballet of men and machines going about their business.

We caught up to Arnval as he neared a wide swing door at the back of the loading dock.

From within his trench coat, he produced a security card that he used to unlock the door. Yanking it open, he revealed a wide corridor that he quickly strode into.

It surprised me a little that he wasn’t waiting for us. Instead, he charged on ahead without sparing us a glance.

Jeezes, what’s the rush? I grumbled at his back.

Erina hesitated for a moment before following in his heavy footsteps, her heels clacking loudly on the permacrete underfoot.

I also faltered at the doorway.

Swallowing hard, I stared with uncertainty into the maintenance corridor because it reminded me of when Ghost had guided me through the depths of the Sanreal Crest. At the end of that journey, I came face to face with Mirai’s immense Sarcophagi, but what awaited me on this occasion?

Ghost spoke reassuringly into my ears. “Princess, it will be fine.”

I was a little surprised to hear from him.

He’d been silent throughout the wild car ride.

Then again, he had a habit of popping up at moments like these.

Whenever I needed a gentle nudge, I’d find Ghost either beside me or at my back.

“Why should I believe that?” I whispered to him.

Honestly, I appreciated his support, and I did find comfort in his presence, but my suspicious nature viewed it more like coercion.

“Because I promised not to lie to you.”

The doubtful look on my face was at odds with my reply. “…fine, I trust you….”

After I stepped into the maintenance corridor, I closed the swing door behind me, then once again risked jogging in pursuit of Arnval and Erina, catching up to them a short while later.

Arnval led the way as though he knew where he was going, making turns at intersections with nary a thought.

I had to admit, the urgency he betrayed was beginning to unsettle me to the extent that I expected to go around a corner and come face to face with Tabitha. Thus, I was fairly relieved when he stopped and used his security card to unlock a door midway down a corridor. Pulling it open, he then urged us all inside.

I was last through the door, closing it behind me as I stepped into a large, squarish, and very empty room with pale white light radiating from the ceiling.

The anxiety I’d been harboring abruptly eased, replaced with a stark bewilderment.

Standing with arms akimbo, I gave Arnval a perplexed look. “Where’s the treasure?”

From his trench coat, he’d retrieved something that resembled a holovid player’s remote. He was fiddling with it when my remark caught him off guard.

“What?” he brusquely asked.

I waved a hand about. “Why the empty room?”

He stared at me for a moment, then resumed operating the remote in his left hand.

Unhappy at being ignored, I crossed my arms and started to glare at him.

However, Arnval belatedly explained, “The less clutter the better when translocating.”

“We’re jumping?” My surprise quickly soured. “Oh wonderful. I just love feeling like toothpaste being squeezed out the bottle.”

Arnval ignored my complaint, but Erina looked visibly bleak at the news.

I knew she was afraid of flying, but she appeared equally unenthusiastic about translocating.

Seeing her like this, she was a tempting target for the smartass in me.

“Did you bring your barf bag?” I asked her.

She inhaled loudly before grumbling, “I don’t suffer from motion sickness.”

“Oh, sure you don’t,” I mocked her, then suggested, “Why not cover your eyes and count to ten?”

Arnval glanced thoughtfully at Erina.

I couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking, and for some reason I remembered what Tabitha had said back in the apartment.

Her warning that House Novis suspected Erina of betrayal crossed my mind.

After that, I couldn’t deny that the look Arnval gave Erina made me uneasy.

Swallowing quietly, I watched him continue fiddling with the remote. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t reply, but a heartbeat later, a projecbeam window about the size of an A5 sheet of paper appeared above the device in his hands.

It displayed something akin to a scrollable map with a few red dots scattered across its surface.

This prompted me to ask, “What is that?”

Erina gave me a distracted glance as Arnval grudgingly answered, “It’s a means of locking onto the beacon at our destination. There’s a beacon located beneath this room. That serves as a point of origin. But we need to tell the translocation engine where we want to go.”

Translocation engine?

I bit my lower lip nervously as I watched the scrolling map center on a red dot in the middle of a blue ocean. “So then where are we going?”

“The only place we can go until your troubles with House Cardinal blow over.” Arnval pressed a couple of buttons, then quietly announced, “We’re locked in.”

Hearing the announcement, Erina looked displeased as she folded her arms across her chest.

Was it because she knew where we were going? Or was it the imminent translocation that had her feathers ruffled?

While mulling that over, I suddenly remembered what I’d meant to ask Arnval back in the car. “Wait a minute. Where’s Straus?”

Arnval’s thumb hovered over a big green button on the remote. “With any luck, she should be there already.”

“And where is there?”

“You’re about to find out.”

With that, he mashed down on the button.

Having experienced a few translocations in as many days, I swallowed anxiously as I knew what to expect. But that didn’t make the familiar, disagreeable, and unwelcome sensation that swept over me any easier to stomach. In fact, the combination of disorienting weightlessness and pitch-black darkness that swallowed the room threatened to upend my guts. I clamped down on them, and took deep, even breaths as the weightless feeling transmuted into the impression that I was perpetually falling into a bottomless abyss.

That didn’t last long, and soon I felt like I was being squeezed through a garden hose.

Unable to breathe, I kept my eyes wide open.

Mirai’s wetware told me the experience lasted only seconds, yet it felt like a minute before I was funneled out into bright sunlight.

Blinded, I reflexively shut my eyes, but then quickly realized something was wrong.

The translocation process had ended but I was again experiencing a freefall.

With a roaring wind in my ears, and my clothes plastered to my body, there was no denying something was seriously amiss.

What the Hell is going on?

Prying my eyes open, I struggled to look around me.

The sight of Erina and Arnval swimming helplessly in the air almost gave me a seizure.

However, when I looked below me, I instantly regretted opening my eyes.

WHAT THE FREK?

A palatial villa surrounded by acres of lush, verdant garden was rushing up to meet us.

Or rather, we were falling toward it.

Actually, we were headed for a watery landing in an immense swimming pool the size of a small lagoon.

In freefall beside me, Erina screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Arnval, you ass—!”

Then we splashed into the pool’s crystal blue waters.

---

Thank you for getting this far. I haven't posted recently because I've been busy with work and writing a brand new series, while working on the sequel to the new The Gun Princess Royale that's on Amazon. Learning how to use Meta/Facebook ads better. If anyone has suggestions on how to promote this series, I would really appreciate. I remember there being a book reviewer who only reviewed gender-bender and transgender stories. I just can't remember her name now. It's been more than years since I submitted the original series to her.

I will continue to post the rest of this book while chapters remain.

A reminder that Book 1 of the newly reimagined & rebooted series, The Gun Princess Royale, is available for purchase or reading on Kindle Unlimited. More than two years of writing have gone into it. Please check it out. It's 873 pages so the sample for reading on Amazon is a whopping 87 pages.

A happy & safe 2024 to all of you.

The ongoing trials and tribulations of Ronin Kassius as he assumes the identity of Isabel val Sanreal and returns to Ar Telica City. Having survived the encounter with the Gun Queen of Ar Telica, Ronin returns to Ar Telica and begins his/her new dual life as Isabel val Sanreal, illegitimate daughter of the uber rich Sanreal Family, and as the Gun Princess, Mirai, an artificially created entity with preternatural abilities. But as he struggles to deal with the reality of living the rest of his life as a girl, Ronin/Isabel is caught in the middle of an ever-expanding web of deceit and intrigue as House Elsis Novis spars with the Aventisse Empress over possession of the research on the Angel Fibers conducted by Ronin’s sister, Erina Kassius.

The new reimagined series, The Gun Princess Royale - Book 1 is now finally available on Amazon KDP. Over two years in the making, I'm happy to present it to readers. Please check it out on Amazon KDP or Kindle Unlimited. 873 pages.

---

It was a hard splashdown.

At the last possible second, Mirai avoided a belly flop that would have certainly broken her back no matter how strong she was.

Abruptly shifting her posture, I plunged feet first into the water.

However, the impact was severe and for a moment I blacked out, only to snap awake when my booted feet struck the bottom of the pool.

The cold water helped insofar as shocking my body into desperate action.

Kicking off the bottom, I swam with forceful strokes up to the surface, breaking through seconds later, and then I gulped air while treading water.

Mirai’s enormous strength came in handy and I found it easy to keep my head well above the gently, lapping waves as I hastily looked around.

A few seconds later, Arnval burst into view when his head and shoulders emerged from the water, but as time went by there was no sign of Erina.

A dire sensation crept through me as I turned my head left and right in search of her.

Not good. Not good!

There were several people clustered along one side of the pool – girls dressed in maid uniforms looking visibly frantic – but the person I was searching for wasn’t there.

Damn it! If she hasn’t come up yet—!

Inhaling deeply, I dove underwater.

Erina!

I despised her.

I hated her for what she’d done to me.

I’d claimed to have cut my ties with her, no longer thinking of her as my sister.

And yet I found myself searching the depths of the pool for her.

Why?

Perhaps because this wasn’t how I wanted her to meet her maker.

She wasn’t going to escape my retribution this easily.

I wasn’t alone in my efforts to find her – Arnval had dived along with me – though our reasons for doing so may have been disparate. However, he’d undoubtedly arrived at the same conclusion I had – that Erina was human and thus the weakest of us. That said, I still didn’t know what Arnval was, but I had a fairly good idea he wasn’t entirely human. Regardless, Erina wasn’t like him or I, so the impact from the water landing had probably knocked her unconscious. At worst, it may have killed her.

I chose to swim in one direction, and Arnval chose another.

We had three things working in our favor.

The first was that the pool was shallow, no more than fifteen feet deep.

The second was the clear nature of the water. It was so clear that I could see for dozens of meters all around me.

The third was that the pool was illuminated, making it even easier to see into the distance.

Because of all this, I soon located my former sister drifting unconscious along the bottom.

Erina!

No, this wasn’t how I wanted to see her die.

She had too much to atone for before I’d let her kick the bucket.

Swimming up to her, I reached out and shook her brusquely, but she failed to respond.

With my heart thumping anxiously in my chest, I quickly wrapped an arm around Erina’s waist, then swam hard back to the surface.

I broke into open air a couple of seconds later.

It wasn’t long before Arnval arrived to lend me his support.

With Erina between us, we swam for the closest end of the pool.

The maids greeted us and tried offering us their support, but I angrily waved them back.

They’d been standing uselessly by the side of the pool, so I could do without their help.

First hauling myself with ease out of the water, I then lugged Erina onto the stone tiles bordering the pool. But with Arnval’s assistance, we carefully yet quickly carried her to a soft, grassy bank a few feet away.

Laying her down supine, I searched for Erina’s pulse by pressing my fingertips to her neck.

I found none.

“Frek!” I cursed loudly, and then abruptly realized I had no idea what to do.

I had never trained to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

While on all fours beside Erina, I turned to Arnval who was on his feet, dripping wet, and talking to someone on the phone.

“Arnval—I don’t know CPR!”

Ghost materialized in a corner of my vision. “Princess, calm down. I can advise you of the proper procedure.”

Both hearing him and having him nearby quelled a little of my panic, but I was still frantic. “Ghost, what do I—?”

Someone skidded on the grass, coming to a sudden halt in front of me.

Looking up, I was shocked to see Severin Straus standing over me.

He was sporting a change of clothes, but his hair was damp.

Despite having arrived at a run, his avatar was a machine so there was no reason for him to be out of breath, and yet he was clearly breathing hard and fast.

It took me a moment to realize why: Straus was frantic just like I was.

“I don’t know CPR!” I cried up to him.

Straus pushed me away from Erina and quickly straddled her body. “I do.”

“But you’re a mechanical—”

“This body is fully equipped—remember?”

I was incredulous. “What? You have lungs?”

“How else could I pass myself off as human?” he snapped as he quickly unbuttoned Erina’s blouse, exposing her chest and belly.

From somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, I remembered an ancient superstition that said your spirit wore the clothes you died in. At sight of the expensive looking bra Erina was wearing, I sarcastically thought, Well, if you have to go, at least go in style.

Then I recognized it as a push-up bra, and despite the gravity of the situation, I sniggered inwardly.

Ah, so that’s how you’re making mountains out of molehills.

Abruptly I felt a sharp pang of guilt that stole my breath, and I hastily shook my head.

No, no, no! What the Hell am I thinking at a time like this!

Desperately shaking off my shallow thoughts, I quickly shook my head.

She may be a bitch—but I don’t want her dead!

Straus misread my body language. “Relax, I know what I’m doing.”

While I’d been preoccupied scoffing at Erina for wearing a push-up bra, Straus had been busy attempting to save her life.

He’d tipped back her head, opened her mouth, and then buried his fingers into it.

“I have a lot more than just lungs…,” he muttered solemnly.

Watching him at work, I felt utterly useless, guilty, and increasingly frustrated. But for a heartbeat, I remembered questioning him if he was anatomically correct, and the memory made me blush.

Wait—why the Hell am I blushing? This is no time to be blushing!

Kicking the thought aside, I focused my attention on Straus as he probed deeply into Erina’s mouth, then frowned as I realized something.

Shouldn’t she be reflexively gagging?

My frown deepened.

Is it because her heart has stopped? Is that why she’s not responding?

An unpleasant cold crept through me, and it had nothing to do with being soaked to the skin. Rather, it was slowly dawning on me that Erina may very well be dead.

No, no, no! Think positive! She can’t kick the bucket like this. Not like this!

I realized I was clenching my hands into fists.

Okay. Maybe she’s not clinically dead yet! But how long can she stay like this before she suffers serious brain damage?

Straus muttered, “Her airway seems clear.”

A shadow crossed over us, and I glanced up to see Arnval pacing slowly while talking urgently to someone on his phone. “Yes, she’s unresponsive. I do suggest you hurry, Fatina. It doesn’t look good. Another three minutes and she may suffer serious neurological damage. Yes, yes, I know it can be repaired but that will take time, and we can’t afford the setback.”

I felt myself grow pale. Simultaneously, my eyebrows rose sharply.

Brain damage can be fixed? What the Hell kind of technology do they have? But if he’s talking about a setback does that mean it’s not perfect?

I looked down at Erina.

Will this affect her status as an Alpha?

Straus breathed air into Erina’s open mouth, then placed his hands low over her sternum and began the chest compressions.

On impulse I asked, “Can I help?”

Straus shook his head quickly. “No. I can blow clean air into her lungs.”

“Clean air?”

“Average oxygen content in the air is twenty-one percent. Humans consume about five percent of that when they breathe. That leaves about sixteen percent left over when we exhale.”

He compressed Erina’s chest some thirty times, then leaned forward to breathe twice into her open mouth before resuming the chest compressions and his explanation.

“But I don’t consume more than two percent oxygen so that means I can breathe cleaner air into her than you could.” Without stopping, he glanced up at me. “Actually, we don’t know how much or how little oxygen you consume.”

Dismissing the question, I leaned toward him and pointed at his hands on Erina’s sternum. “Then shouldn’t I be doing the compressions while you breathe into her?”

He stared at me blankly for a few seconds, yet his CPR didn’t miss a beat.

A moment later, he hurriedly nodded. “Good idea. You compress, I breathe into her. But we need to establish a rhythm.”

We changed positions with me straddling Erina’s legs and Straus kneeling beside her head.

I placed my hands on Erina’s sternum where I’d observed Straus place his.

Erina’s skin was warm to the touch, and I remembered that Straus’s avatar had warm hands.

Again, it was something I couldn’t dwell on, and instead concentrated on compressing Erina’s chest.

“Don’t push too hard,” Straus sharply warned me. “With your strength you’ll crush her chest and rupture her organs—”

“O—okay. I get it. I get it.” I grit my teeth together.

Yeah, no pressure. No pressure at all!

Straus began to act as a breathing apparatus, while I cautiously compressed Erina’s chest at one second intervals.

Straus timed his breathing with my actions.

I don’t know for how long we did this, perhaps only a minute, but it felt like an eternity.

When I felt my rhythm begin to falter, Ghost began counting for me with a precision I lacked.

Then Straus surprised me.

He lifted his head away from Erina’s mouth, and then sharply punched her chest.

He punched it again, and I felt the blow work its way through Erina’s skeleton.

When he punched it a third time, I was certain I felt her breastbone crack.

“What the frek are doing?” I yelled at him.

“Shocking her heart,” he answered. “Come on, Eri! Don’t frekking give up on me now!”

He punched her chest a fourth time.

Now, I was convinced he’d fractured her sternum.

“You’re killing her!” I snapped at him.

But Straus ignored me as he yelled, “Erina!” and punched her a fifth time.

And then it happened – I felt something go ‘thump’ inside her chest, and a moment later Erina convulsed.

Water spouted out of her gaping mouth a handful of times as she coughed violently.

With my hands on her chest, I could feel her heart beating irregularly, but it was beating, and after regurgitating the pool water, Erina was gasping for air on her own. The sickly wheezing coming from her throat reminded me she was still in trouble, but I believed the worst had passed.

Then the sound of running footsteps grabbed my attention, and I looked up to see three more maids arrive. Unlike the useless bunch standing around, the newcomers carried silver metal cases with them, and they moved with a purpose.

“Excuse us, please,” said a young woman with short chestnut hair wearing a headband with cat’s ears. She crouched beside Erina and a waved a medical wand over my former sister’s body while holding a data slate in her other hand. While studying the results displayed on the slate, she spoke quickly to one of the other girls. “Tamara, the breather please.”

Another maid, this one wearing fox ears over her short auburn hair, knelt beside Erina’s head. Placing her silver case on the grass, she opened it to extract a breathing apparatus that she quickly strapped over Erina’s mouth. The device was connected via a ribbed hose to a lung shaped device nestled within the silver case. When it started up, gills along the artificial lung opened and closed like those of a shark.

The maid with the wand then addressed the third girl who’d arrived with her – a buxom blond wearing bunny ears – who was busy laying out something on the ground nearby.

“Penelope, the stretcher please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The blonde maid finished attaching a couple of black rectangular boxes to the stretcher. The device shook to life and abruptly launched into the air.

“Stretcher ready, ma’am,” the girl reported with a sharp salute that made her bunny ears and voluptuous chest bounce.

However, the stretcher had other ideas and suddenly rocketed off from a standing start.

“What?” The bunny maid cried out in disbelief, shot to her feet, and chased after the flying stretcher. “Come back here!”

Have you ever filled up a balloon with air, and then let it go? The balloon will jet around erratically, making it hard to follow. That’s what happened with the stretcher, and the bunny maid was running all over the place chasing after it.

Straus and I watched her with mouths agape.

“What the Hell?” he muttered.

Standing nearby, Arnval regarded the fruitless efforts of the bunny girl as he addressed the maid with cat ears. “Fatina, answer me this please.”

The maid in question continued scanning Erina’s supine body with the medical wand. “What would that be?”

“Why the Hell hasn’t she been recycled yet?” Arnval asked in a blunt tone.

The young woman sighed softly. “She has her uses, Geharis.”

“Really? You’re not saying that in jest, are you?”

Fatina glanced up at him. “They’re my girls, Arnval. I decide their fate, not you.”

He gave her a steely look and hardened his tone. “Then tell me you have a plan-B, Fatina.”

She finished waving the wand over Erina, then calmly nodded at him. “I do indeed.”

“Then let’s hear it,” he demanded.

“Shoot the stretcher,” Fatina instructed.

Arnval exhaled loudly through his nose. “You should have said so earlier.”

From the wet innards of his trench coat – yes, he was still wearing the damned trench coat – Arnval pulled out a gun.

My eyes widened at sight of the firearm.

That bastard had a second gun?

In one fluid motion, he aimed at the stretcher and fired twice in rapid succession.

Sparks flew from the device and it crashed to the ground some fifty feet away from us, then quickly skidded to a stop.

My mouth fell open in disbelief.

He had a second gun? And it was loaded with LIVE AMMO?

“Straight through the kisser,” Arnval quipped.

Straus leapt to his feet and ran over to the fallen stretcher, ignoring the bunny maid who’d collapsed to her knees beside it.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Penelope whined loudly as she labored to catch her breath.

With the stretcher under an arm, Straus hurried back to Erina.

I scooted back to give him room, but my attention was on Arnval.

He was watching the bunny maid kneeling on the grass, and for a while, I genuinely suspected he would put a bullet through the girl.

A sense of malice and the desire for carnage radiated into the air around him. But then he gave his oversized gun a fancy spin before holstering it within his trench coat.

I swallowed quietly, and in the corner of my eye, I noticed Fatina exhale softly as she subtly shook her head. However, she held her peace, and I chose to focus on helping Straus load the unconscious Erina onto the powerless stretcher.

Straus then took the contraption’s front handles while I took the pair at the rear.

In the meantime, the fox maid, Tamara, closed the silver case with the gilled lung, but an opening through the casing allowed the ribbed hose to remain connected to the mask strapped over Erina’s mouth.

“On the count of three,” Straus called out. “One, two, three.”

In unison, Straus and I hefted the stretcher up off the ground, careful not to drop Erina in the process.

“Which way?” I asked in a hurry.

Arnval quickly strode past us. “Follow me, ladies,” he instructed us tersely.

Straus threw him a biting look, and the cat maid, Fatina, spoke in monotone. “Yes, by all means, follow him.”

Her voice may have sounded flat, but there was a hint of contempt somewhere in there.

I held back an uneasy sigh as I carried my end of the stretcher.

Together with Straus, we followed Arnval who guided us away from the pool and onto a wide path made of paving stones. Gently snaking through the well-maintained garden, the path led in the direction of the palatial two storey villa in the distance.

Fatina chose to hurry on ahead, no doubt to prepare the house for our arrival, while Tamara walked beside the stretcher with the breather’s case in hand.

As for Penelope, the bunny maid dragged her feet as she trudged in our wake.

Soon, she fell behind though I heard her pitifully mutter, “Why…why does this always happen to me…?”

 

– II –

 

I grimaced in discomfort as I followed the path up to the steps leading into the house.

I was cold, wet, and my black business suit clung tightly to my skin. However, because it was black it hadn’t turned translucent when wet. But to my surprise, Marinette’s blouse that I was wearing had also remained opaque thus keeping her white sports bra safe from perving eyes.

I was grateful for small miracles such as these, yet it was still unpleasant to walk in soaked clothing.

My breasts felt uncomfortable in the wet sports bra, as did my butt in the sodden briefs.

The only part of me that wasn’t waterlogged were my feet. Incredulous as it may seem, the ankle high boots fit so snuggly that my feet felt mostly dry.

It was the one saving grace that kept me from losing my stack as I carried Erina on the stretcher.

Looking down at the unconscious woman, my feelings warred with each other.

On the one hand, I despised her for various reasons already mentioned. Yet on the other hand, she was still my sister and I couldn’t cut that last thread of familial attachment that tied me to her. Thus, I was in a quandary over how I should deal with her. The only thing I was certain of was that I couldn’t let her die – not while she had yet to atone for what she’d done to me.

About a minute into the journey, the path branched in two directions.

One circled around the lagoon pool, the other angled toward the palatial villa in the near distance. Naturally, Straus and I followed Arnval on the path leading toward the enormous house on the wide plateau.

Sparing a puzzled look at Straus’s back, I quietly cleared my throat before asking him, “Hey, when did you get here?”

My question appeared to blindside him, and he gave me a distracted glance over a shoulder. “When? Oh—a few minutes before you did.”

“Did you land in the pool?”

He suddenly snorted angrily. “More like drove into it.”

“What do you mean?”

Straus shrugged as though frustrated. “They translocated the car while I was on the move.”

“Sorry, they did what?”

“I said they translocated the car while I was driving on the highway.”

“…are you serious…?”

“Of course, I’m serious! One minute I’m on the overpass. Then everything went pitch black. I felt like I was being sucked through a drainpipe. When I was squeezed out back into daylight, I’m literally driving through the garden, then straight into the pool!”

I stopped suddenly, almost yanking the stretcher out of his hands.

Straus halted in a hurry and glowered back at me. “Hey, what gives?”

“You drove into the pool?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Were you driving one of those big black cars?”

“No, I was driving Erina’s car.”

I didn’t believe I could be more surprised, but I was wrong. “Her sports car? Why?”

He shrugged heavily. “Erina’s car has an auto-drive function to get it back home, but Spartan decided I should take her car for a ride and maybe throw off Hexaria. A few minutes later—wham—I’m out of the city and here at the Estate, ploughing through hedges and into the water.”

I slowly gaped at him. “You drove Erina’s car into the pool?”

“Yes, I drove it into the pool.”

“Erina’s car is at the bottom of the pool?”

“It wasn’t my fault.”

It started as a chuckle that quickly grew into an earnest laugh that made my whole body tremble, thereby shaking my end of the stretcher. “She is so going to be pissed when she finds out.”

I imagined the look on her face when she learnt of the fate of her car, but then Straus burst my bubble.

“She has six more in her garage.”

I stopped laughing and gaped at him again. “What?”

“She has six more sportscars in her garage. One for each day of the week. That car in the pool was for Wednesday.”

I didn’t feel like laughing anymore.

Instead, I glared down at Erina’s unconscious body.

I realized that I didn’t know my former sister nearly as well as I thought.

“Greedy bitch,” I growled, then abruptly pushed into Straus with the stretcher, forcing him to start walking again. “Hurry up, pretty boy, before I dump this bitch back in the pool.”

Straus gave me a reproachful look but didn’t complain.

As for the maid, Tamara, she remained stoic and silent as she walked alongside the stretcher with the respirator case in hand.

Having resumed our journey to the immense villa built on a wide, grassy plateau, I gave our surroundings a sweeping, slightly distracted look that concluded with me wondering where the Hell we were.

The air was fresh and clean, with the hint of moisture it carried from the pool. Generous, fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the sky overhead, while a breeze wafted through the garden, rustling the brush, and in the distance, I could see a vast ocean spanning the horizon.

Taking it all into account, I suspected we’d fallen onto yet another of House Novis’s islands, possibly a secluded family retreat far from prying eyes. However, something about the place felt wrong to me, and it took me a short while to understand why.

I couldn’t sense magnetic north, and the ground beneath us was moving.

It was a faint, almost imperceptible motion, yet I was certain of what Mirai was feeling. Perhaps it was how some people on the upper floors of a skyscraper can discern when it sways gently in the wind even if it’s only a couple of centimeters at a time.

I had to admit that it was a rather freaky talent of Mirai’s, but both observations made me wonder if this wasn’t an island, but an off-world station or a very large starship.

The Sanreal Family was uber rich, and I’d read how some billionaires lived aboard immense vessels, travelling from planet to planet, visiting their investments and such.

What if I was no longer on Teloria? Would it even matter? After all, what could I possibly do either way?

I was helpless.

Tossed from one situation to the next, I had no say in any of the decisions that affected me.

It was enough to make me despair as I carried Erina on the stretcher, but she drew my attention when she stirred, and my hopelessness turned into cold, self-reproach.

How could I possibly care about someone like her?

Erina and I had drifted worlds apart, but our estranged relationship wasn’t my doing. I hadn’t left her behind. It was she who walked away from me, and that’s why I felt both foolish and naïve for still caring about her, even though I told myself it was because I wanted her to live to atone for her misdeeds. But it felt like I was trying to convince myself with a weak, sophist argument, and that made me more bitter with myself than with Erina.

I watched her stir again yet she failed to awaken.

“How is she?” I asked the fox eared maid.

The young woman glanced down at Erina. “We’ll know more when we place her inside a med-capsule.”

That reply made me feel stupid for asking in the first place.

Of course, we would know more when Erina was given proper medical care. But as a layman – or laywoman – with only cursory medical knowledge, the fact that Erina had failed to regain consciousness was concerning, and that once again made me question why I cared.

Maybe, some bonds were a little harder to cut than others.

Perhaps, I’d never be able to completely sever myself from her.

Thinking that, my mood spoiled further.

Arriving at the foot of the wide steps leading up to the palatial villa’s broad entrance, I gazed up at the building looming before us, then carefully climbed the steps, mindful of the need to keep the stretcher level between Straus and I.

At the landing before the double doors, I paused to give the exterior of the abode a good look.

While in freefall toward the lagoon sized pool, I’d noticed that the house was built in the shape of a square – a quadrangle – with an immense garden in the middle. Overall, the villa must have measured a hundred meters wide. Balconies with repeated archways spanned the length of the first and second floors. The windows on both levels were broad, tall, with semi-circular fanlights, and there were glass doors leading out onto the balconies at regular intervals, each of them probably belonging to a separate room or suite.

The more I looked at the house, the more it reminded me of a cross between a Spanish and a Roman villa – the kind I remembered seeing in documentaries of ancient Earth.

A sour thought crossed my mind as I realized those memories belonged to Ronin Kassius. But I had accepted my role as the keeper of those memories, so I pushed the resentment aside.

Little by little, I’ll make memories of my own.

In fact, I was already doing so, but unfortunately few if any of those memories were pleasant or worth keeping.

With a heavy sigh, I directed my gaze at the closed doors.

Considering the events that had led to this moment, I was actually reluctant to step inside, and I found myself recalling the lyrics of a song that swam up from the murky depths of my subconscious.

“Welcome to the Hotel California,” I sang softly. “Such a lovely place…such a lovely face….”

“What?” Arnval half spun around and stared at me with a mixture of shock and distrust. “Where did you hear that?”

At first, I was surprised by his reaction, but then his tone rubbed me the wrong way. And yet, I belied that with a casual, shoulder shrug. “I don’t know. I just remembered it now.”

Disquiet settled upon his face. Arnval started to say something, but he was interrupted by a loud bang as the doors to the house abruptly flung open.

The maid, Fatina, emerged in the company of a half dozen other girls, each of them wearing a maid uniform and different animal ears, though one girl was wearing reindeer antlers.

What kind of weird fetish does Phelan Sanreal have? I pondered uneasily.

Quickly, the maids surrounded us.

Since I was still in Mirai Mode, I decided to concentrate my awareness on them, observing by their pale orange aura that they were all Simulacra, making me wonder if House Novis and the Sanreal Family suffered from a lack of manpower. Then again, considering the goings on around the Sanreals, perhaps it was best to have staff you could trust and easily dispose of if you didn’t.

“We’ll take it from here,” the cat maid, Fatina, declared in a respectful and patient tone.

This woman had yet to earn my ire, so I chose to be civil toward her while refusing to stand aside or relinquish my hold on the stretcher. “Where exactly is here?”

“The Sanreal Estate,” she replied smoothly, then gestured at the open doorway into the house. “Please, we mustn’t delay.”

Straus had half turned to look back at me. “Isabel…?”

I stared uncertainly at the unconscious Erina.

Regardless of whether I cared for her or not, I was anxious over what Tabitha had told me. That is to say whether the Sanreal Family meant to harm Erina, and whether Mirai’s survival depended on her. Not knowing if either was true made me reluctant to hand her over.

In the corner of my eye, I saw someone other than maids stand beside me.

“Princess,” Ghost gently called out to me. “It will be fine.”

“Really?” I barely whispered.

“Please, allow them to care for her.”

I regarded my former sister lying on the stretcher. “If something goes wrong—”

“I will handle it,” Ghost assured me. “Trust me.”

I swallowed hard before exhaling heavily. “Fine….”

Stepping back slightly was my way of giving my consent, and the maids moved in and quickly took the stretcher from Straus and I.

I watched them maneuver through the wide, open doorway.

I can’t say I wasn’t anxious when they disappeared with Erina into the villa.

What if Mirai really needed her alive? What then? Did that mean that everything else Tabitha told me was true?

Fatina interrupted my grim musings.

Standing in front of me, she indicated the blonde maid with the bunny ears. “If you’ll follow Penelope and I, we’ll lead you to your rooms. Dry clothes have been prepared for you.”

Changing out of these wet clothes was something I welcomed. However, I crossed my arms and fixed a hard stare on Arnval who was quick to notice it.

“Something the matter?” he asked.

“We’re not on Teloria, are we?”

Arnval narrowed his eyes slightly. “And what makes you say that?”

“The gravity is weird here, the sky overhead looks weird, and I can’t tell which way is north.”

“Ah, yes. Your ability to sense magnetic waves—”

“Which is it?” I brusquely cut him off. “A station, an orbital city…or a starship?”

Straus exhaled loudly as he watched the exchange between Arnval and I. “No, we’re still on Teloria. We haven’t moved off world.”

“Oh?” I pointed up at the sky. “So what is that then?”

I’d failed to notice it at first, but later when peering up at the house, I saw that the overhead sky was covered by a faintly visible grid of hexagonal panes. It gave me the impression that our surroundings were under a transparent dome of some sort.

Straus glanced upwards. “A mimetic sky-field combined with an aegis-field that’s protecting the Estate from outside weather conditions.”

The Estate?

I frowned inwardly. “What weather conditions?”

Arnval laughed lightly but it wasn’t a friendly laugh. Rather, it was condescending and patronizing. “Perhaps it’s better if we showed you.” He gave the patiently waiting Fatina a somewhat amused look. “Well, Fatina? Shall we show the lady what lies beyond?”

The maid displayed the first sign of indecision since stepping onto this fool’s stage. “Are you certain?” she asked Arnval.

“Indeed, I am.” He broke into a thin smile. “I do believe her reaction will be priceless.”

Fatina studied me for a moment then politely nodded just once. “Very well. Please follow me.”

Stepping past me, she descended the steps down from the landing to the paved path.

Wondering why Arnval and the maid were being so dramatic, I hesitated before hurrying after the young woman. In turn, Arnval and Straus followed close behind me as Fatina first retraced our steps along the path, then led us onto a route that circled the pool.

When the path branched again, she followed the one that dove into a lush, verdant garden away from the pool. As I walked through the garden, the place was beginning to remind me more and more of those palatial villas that rich Romans had enjoyed millennia ago. However, once exiting the garden, I was astonished to step onto a beach of warm, golden sand.

Fatina had come to a stop, and I chose to halt beside her.

Beyond the beach was a vast ocean of green and blue stretching out to the distant horizon. It looked perfectly real and I could hear the sound of the waves, but I noticed the very faint hexagonal grid extending down to the sand a few feet shy of where the water lapped the beach.

“It really is a dome,” I muttered half to myself and to Fatina.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed as she reached up and touched one of her cat ears. “Grania, can you hear me? Good. Could you shut down the mimetic sky-field, please? Why? We have a guest who hasn’t seen what it’s like out there. Master Arnval wishes to see her reaction.”

I stared sidelong at the young woman, noticing Arnval standing abreast of her with a smirk on his face. The disquiet he’d betrayed earlier was but a distant memory, and he’d lost the tension he’d been carrying back in Ar Telica.

Prick, I thought at him, then quickly turned to Straus and asked in a low voice, “Is that what those headbands are for? Wireless communication?”

Straus gave me a faintly apologetic smile. “Pretty much.”

“Well, at least they’re ergonomic,” I whispered.

“And it’s part of their charm,” he ruefully added.

I pouted thoughtfully before admitting, “I guess so. I did find those maids were cute.”

I was being honest with my opinion. The Simulacra maids had been rather pretty. Dressed in their short maid outfits and wearing cute animal ears had given them a peculiar charm – though I wasn’t sold on the reindeer antlers.

Straus shook his head lightly. “No, that’s not what I mean, but I’ll tell you about that another time.” He pointed in the direction of the ocean. “The sky-field is coming down.”

The sky darkened rather quickly, and I soon realized it was because the dome’s hexagonal panes had become transparent, and the lack of light coming in from outside was due to the unexpected, frightening vista surrounding the Estate.

In terror and disbelief, I struggled to find my voice.

Eventually, I feebly whispered, “Where the Hell are we…?”

Beside me, Straus chuckled uneasily. “We’re inside a Category Six hurricane.”

“…oh….”

The ocean storm of unbelievable scale and ferocity raging before me was truly one of Teloria’s nightmarish seven wonders of the world.

 

– III –

 

For decades, the creation of a Category Six classification for hurricanes was considered superfluous.

After all, why create another level on the Saffir-Simpson scale when Category Five already guaranteed catastrophic destruction.

Then the storms grew worse, and humanity had to build bigger, better, and stronger…or die at the hands of an increasingly bipolar and psychotic Mother Nature. With cities protected by newer and better technologies, total destruction was no longer a given at Category Five, and thus Category Six was born.

When humanity spread throughout its local arm of the Milky Way, they carried with them the knowledge they had gained in their efforts to survive on an Earth that had become hostile to them. Amongst the many worlds people settled upon was the third planet of a thirteen-body solar system – a severe, unforgiving blue, green, and red world they would name, Teloria.

A world that made Earth look like Paradise.

A world humanity was committed to taming because it was one of a precious few that could be terraformed to support human life.

However, until it was fully tamed, humanity had a need to build its city-states as befitting their environment. A century of terraforming had yet to calm down the planet into the relatively placid Earth-like climate and ecology of yesteryear. Atmospheric and ocean storms continued rage, and though weak compared to what Telos had once endured, they were still fierce. Hence, Ar Telica and its sister states had been constructed to withstand the raging ferocity of a Category Five hurricane.

Telos Academy was no exception to this design doctrine.

As a first line of defense, the tetrapods that surrounded Telos Island could project a layered barrier-field to diminish the force of the waves before they reached the school’s buildings. They could also partially divert the intense winds so that they blew well clear of the island.

As a second line of defense, strong effect-fields could form a protective bubble around the school. It was one of the reasons why the main faculty building was circular, and why the gymnasium, aquatic center, and clubroom buildings were constructed with rounded corners and arched rooftops. At the prospect of being submerged under the storm’s waves, the academy’s Assisting Intelligence could engage watertight doors and shutters to isolate the interior of the school into sections. Pressure doors also prevented the underground power generators, shelters, and life support systems from being inundated.

In effect, the school could become a waterproof environment to protect the students and staff from the lethal intensity of a hurricane. However, Telos Academy and Ar Telica city would not survive a collision with a Category Six hurricane unscathed. In short, there would be damage, until bigger, better, and more powerful barrier-field emitters could be designed and constructed…like the one protecting the Estate’s dome from harm.

This is what I realized while watching waves large enough to completely swallow Telos Academy slam harmlessly against the dome’s exterior. I was witnessing a perfect example of how our technology lagged behind that of the Empire’s. In other words, they possessed barrier-fields that could shrug off a Category Six hurricane as though it was nothing more than a summer drizzle, something that humanity from my universe was yet to achieve.

And there was something else I concluded with a grim heart.

“We could have died out there.”

It came out as a whisper, but it was heard by those around me.

I nodded at the storm outside the dome. “Erina and I, even that asshole Arnval—we could have died out there.”

Off to my right, I heard a muffled cough. “I would appreciate you not calling me an ‘asshole’, young lady.”

I turned my head and looked at Arnval standing beside Fatina. “It was your idea to translocate us to this location—wherever this is—and Erina’s injuries are a direct result of that.” I pointed at the towering waves crashing against the dome. “Mirai is strong, but I wouldn’t have survived out there, and neither would you.”

Arnval clenched his jaw and was quiet for a long moment. “I am aware of that.”

“Then why do it? Why use this translocation technology if it’s so risky?”

I watched him take a deep breath. “Getting you and Erina Kassius out of the city was a priority. Her being injured wasn’t part of the plan.”

“But there was a chance this could happen, right?”

Fatina cut in. “The margin of error associated with your translocation was deemed acceptable.”

I stared at her in cold disbelief. “Meaning what?”

“The point of emergence was calculated well within the volume of space protected by the dome surrounding the Estate.”

Pushing my disbelief aside, I smiled at her, but it felt more like a snarl. “Oh really? And what would have happened if we hadn’t emerged above the pool?” I pointed to the villa in the distance so immense it was visible over the garden brush. “What if we’d translocated over the house? Does crashing into the roof factor into the margin of error?”

“The manor and surrounding gardens are equipped with effect-field emitters. They would have acted as a net and caught you safely,” Fatina explained. “You would not have been harmed, and Doctor Kassius would not have been injured.”

“And what about the pool?”

Fatina stiffened and hesitated for a moment before offering me a deeply apologetic bow. “I regret that the effect-fields do not provide coverage over the pool.” She bowed even deeper. “I am truly sorry.”

“So you didn’t factor that we would come out above the pool?”

“We did. However, we were unable to place portable effect-field emitters around the pool in time. Your trans-location occurred ahead of schedule.” She bowed to me once more. “Once again, I offer you most sincere apologies.”

I clenched my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms until they hurt.

Did this woman think I was a fool?

I didn’t buy her explanation for a heartbeat. Haste notwithstanding, not being prepared for our arrival simply didn’t wash with me. Hence, I suspected the accident had been staged, and if true then the question was why?

Maybe Tabitha was right. But something feels off.

Erina dying from drowning seemed a little too excessive for me. But what if they only meant to scare her? What if this was only a warning?

I took a deep breath and relaxed my fingers. Within moments, the pain in my palms faded away into nothing, no doubt because the skin had flawlessly healed.

If only my doubts and questions could be dealt with as easily.

I looked Arnval standing beside Fatina. “Is Tabitha that much of a threat to you?”

He was staring at the hurricane with a taunting look, like a man watching a caged tiger pacing furiously behind the bars, safe in the knowledge that it was locked away, but he did answer after a moment or two. “Sanreal wanted you and Kassius out of the city. Orders are orders.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I complained.

Turning slightly toward me, he gave me a sidelong version of the taunting look he’d been giving the storm.

Was I now the tiger in his eyes?

“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed. “So what will you do? Or rather, what can you do?”

At first, I was taken aback by his question, and I had no quick answer for him, but then I had a sudden suspicion that made my stomach clench unpleasantly.

Is he challenging me?

Arnval wasn’t entirely human, and I was beginning to suspect his body was partly mechanical, implying he was some kind of cybernetic entity. I didn’t care how he’d become that way. Neither did I care whether his body parts were based on technology from this universe or from the Empire’s, because in all honesty I had little knowledge of what cybernetic tech was capable of accomplishing in this day and age.

What concerned me was whether I could be beat him in a one-on-one fight.

I’d felt his strength and witnessed his speed, and so I was certain that fighting him would be a painful, bone breaking encounter. Thus, if I was going to take him on, I’d rather do it as a Gun Princess with my guns and with my Regalia.

Having made my decision to brush off his challenge for now, I folded my arms with deliberate calm under Mirai’s bosom, however, I was going to stick it to Arnval where it hurt.

“You’re afraid of her. Tabitha gave you a run for your money all through the morning. And then she shows up at the park. That must have been a real pucker moment for you.”

The provoking smile faded from his lips, but his eyes now revealed a very real anger.

Having locked proverbial horns with him, we both glared at each other for a long while before Arnval bluntly stated, “If you have a complaint, I suggest you bring it up when you meet Lord Sanreal. It was his decision to have you translocated here with all possible haste.”

A sudden bout of uncertainty made me swallow hard. “Sanreal is here?” I glanced around quickly, my gaze briefly settling on the mansion sitting on the grassy plateau. “He’s here?”

“That’s right. And whether you return to Ar Telica or not will depend on you,” Arnval replied, then added, “Amongst other things….”

In other words, my return to the city depended on whether I behaved or not, strongly implying it was reliant on me co-operating with the Sanreals. But with him adding, ‘amongst other things’, I suspected he was alluding to the involvement of the unpredictable Tabitha Hexen, a.k.a. Taura Hexaria of House Cardinal.

I gave the maid, Fatina, a suspicious glance.

A lot had been said and revealed in her presence.

I wondered if that was wise.

Arnval noticed and smiled insincerely. “No need to worry. Fatina is well aware of who you are and what you are. She undoubtedly knows more about you than I do.”

His statement motivated me to give the maid a hard look while asking him, “Why is that?”

He met the question with a chuckle. “Because Fatina is Master Sanreal’s personal assistant. Isn’t that right, Fatina?”

The corners of her eyes crinkled faintly, and she avoided looking at him when she replied, “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t refer to me so familiarly.”

“Yes, yes. So you’ve told me before….”

“And you fail to remember that time and again.”

Watching them banter, I felt like a spectator. That didn’t bother me. Rather, it was the fact they were having a moment at my expense that set my proverbial tail on fire.

Very nearly grinding my teeth together, I had a little trouble finding my voice. “And when do I get to meet Lord Sanreal?”

Arnval flicked a glance at Fatina.

With Mirai’s preternaturally wide field-of-vision, I could see her fairly well without looking at her directly. Thus, I saw the brief reluctance she failed to hide before she courteously said, “Mistress Isabel, may I suggest first settling into the manor. Rooms have been prepared for you. I recommend a long hot bath with scented oils to replenish and rejuvenate your skin, and a change of clothes before your audience with Master Sanreal.”

The mention of clothes reminded me that I was a bit cold and still wet.

To clarify, the black business suit had dried but my underwear remained dank, therefore a change of clothes sounded good. I could also do with a shower, but I wasn’t so sure about soaking in a bathtub. That was something that girls did…even though I was now a girl.

Argh—there’s just no escaping it! Even the maid is prodding me down the path of femininity.

Arms folded beneath Mirai’s bust, my hands balled into fists.

I’m just not ready for a bath!

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Room. Shower. Clothes.” Turning slightly toward Fatina, I stared stubbornly at the maid. “But I’m not taking a bath.”

She smiled faintly at me, as if hinting that she believed otherwise, making me suspect she had something up her proverbial sleeve when she replied, “As you wish, Mistress Isabel….”

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Thank you for getting this far. I haven't posted recently because I've been busy with work and writing a brand new series, while working on the sequel to the new The Gun Princess Royale that's on Amazon.

I will continue to post the rest of this book while chapters remain.