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“Your ship’s current repairs have been distorted by the experiments over the last decade, and now its tendrils have spread within the lowest parts of the city. We have files that show Techrider had been investigating the problems it has caused: the havoc by the displaced creatures, power outages, and most importantly, it’s clogged up the channels we need to be able to leave this planet. We’ve essentially been rooted into place by repairs gone wrong.”

“Can we tear them out? How long has this been going on for?”

“We don’t know much, but from what we do know, it doesn’t look like they can be extracted without making the damage to the city much worse, come on, there may be more answers in the lab.”

We descend deep into the substructure of the city to find Dr. Ravascious Jeer’s secret lab Techrider had triangulated before his recent apparent destruction. In addition to the blueprint to the Empyrean Efflux armor, there is another Spire made out of the same super dense material as the wires from my craft. There are dozens of scientists, sleuths, vigilantes, uniformed officers, and rogue detectives here all mingling about, taking scans and measuring readouts. Everything is connected to these wires overtaking the substructure. Much like the sublab in the Tower, there are also diagnostic screens observing the progress of my craft’s repairs that closely match the real thing.

I burst out of the tunnels and trace the overtaking wires to the source, my craft in Krokodopolis Lab. I do not know why they have made it integrate itself into the city. I rip the direct diagnostic wires off, but to no avail. It’s completely disconnected. I scan the surrounding lab to find more of these wires and discover a hidden room above my craft. Crashing through the floor, I discover a hidden cockpit, sending the repair diagnostic. Siphoning from my craft as an energy source, this Krokodoplis space ship has applied its repairs to amplify the city. Were they going to attempt to use the entire city with the spire to get through my gravity field? I destroy it, and contact the city, but there is no change.

I cannot reverse what they have done, but I can prevent further integration, exploitation. This entire lab was designed for this one purpose. Perhaps it is only being inside of the skull of the labship that is preventing my GS-336 from activation. I explode a hole in the ceiling and use my might to launch my craft into orbit. Before I am able to follow, a voice rings out over comms, it is the short one. Hundreds of portals have erupted across the city, and outpourings of demons spew forth from them. They’re tearing apart the city. Angelguard and the others are already addressing it as best they can, but are already becoming overwhelmed. There’s no telling how long it would take me to dismantle the barrier, and there would be no point in opening the barrier if the city becomes consumed by demons in the process, then it would truly be annoying to get it off of my planet. Even in my current state, I am far stronger than I was when I first killed a Hellbeast. I make my way to the city and as I fly toward the chaos, I hear the familiar rumble of a turbo charged duocycle approaching from the outskirts, converging on my destination.

It was days later that Andrea awoke, back on an operating table. This time was different. She wasn’t being added to, her performance tweaked or her humanity stripped. Instead, for the first time in years, she had it back. The horrors that were taken from her body returned tenfold in the form of mental anguish. She was able to fully feel the emotions she should’ve experienced during her time as The Bodyguard. All at once. She was suddenly able to scream – to cry, to thrash about with all of the hatred, anger, guilt and fear that she’d been unable to feel for so long. She was free. And it was torture.

Every single person she killed – their faces – came to her in a rush. She was frozen in her distress screaming and crying her eyes out as she remembered them all. Footsteps came into the room but Andrea barely acknowledged the two figures that were in front of her. As the tears cleared and her eyes focused, she looked at the pair. One was tall enough to block the light on her right side, and the other, a much shorter one was on her left. Her eyes well up again with joy and recognition. All these years she had thought she had killed her best friends, but here they were, standing before her.

As much of a relief as it was to see those two, it did nothing for the deep well in her soul that came with the knowledge that she had slaughtered all her other friends. She would see their faces every night in her nightmares… For the briefest moment, she was momentarily put at ease by her remaining friends. To feel not only the external warmth from their combined embrace, but an internal comfort that healed wounds she had long forgotten were still wide open. Her friends promised that soon she’ll be able to hug them back – she currently was unable to move her limbs – and began working on restoring their old ally.

It took some time, but with it, she was finally rewarded with a wealth of joy. Eventually, she could see her family in person and after so so long, hold them. Strutts had kept his word and had continued to house them. She knew he was keeping them alive only so he had something to threaten her with. Though he didn’t need to hang them over her head for long before he had complete control over her. When she was ready for it, she was told about the fate of the Executive, and how the barrier finally came down.

With a few more visits to the underground facility she was taken to after the events of that night, the last of her repairs were complete. Then with some physical therapy, she was able to stand. She felt such a sense of relief when she looked down at her hands to see they were no longer cold and metallic razor sharp talons. Instead, she had been fitted with golden, shimmering hands and feet. 

In a mirror, she saw the steel and glass visor that had covered her eyes was gone. What looked back was as close a replicator could make of her old blue eyes as possible. The doctors had worked miracles to reduce her most prominent scars. It brought more tears to her eyes to see herself for the first time in years – the person she was before all the surgeries. A semblance of her anyway. She grew sadder the longer she looked at her reflection. The best doctors could toil away at her skin, meticulously sanding down her physical scars. But it will take more than that to mend her internal scars – the ones on her psyche and consciousness.

It wasn’t the time to wallow in self-pity, however. The City was one in turmoil. She hadn’t been restored to simply admire her regained beauty. The barrier was done with, but that didn’t mean peace was restored. The underground movement was still strong, and there was still much work to be done before the Outer and Inner zones could regain harmony. Though her friends and family said she needed more time to recover, and this didn’t need to be her problem, she pushed back. She had to right the wrongs committed by her. As her old self, she was still determined to help those in need. 

In her first mission back, she tasked herself with one of finding and capturing Executives who went into hiding after the fall of the barrier due to their involvement with it. They were to be seized and interrogated to find out the true purpose behind the diverting of funds and resources from the unfinished zone. Andrea was eager to be on the job again — on the right side of justice. 

Once she was given the all-clear, she stepped out into the glorious sunlight. She stood and soaked in the rays for a moment, appreciating her freedom. Then she spread her new wings and took to the sky. Seeing the world through her own, mostly human eyes, was a wonder. Her vision wasn’t beyond perfect anymore but that allowed her to enjoy the simpler things. Being able to enjoy anything once again was a delight in itself. But with the small highs came even bigger lows.

When she was done daydreaming, Andrea got on with her assignment. Upon seeing her targets, however, recognition was triggered deep within her. An onslaught of unstable emotions that she had yet to gain control over bubbled to the surface. She knew who those people were. They were former close collaborators to the late Executive. Though it reminded her of swooping down and butchering any soul she was commanded to, the action of divebombing and securing these targets invoked a sense of retribution. Her anger controlled her actions as she gathered them up.

Their deaths swiftly followed in the form of unauthorized public executions. The people of the Outer City gasped as the former aristocrats were slaughtered in broad daylight. Of those that were sought out and detained, there were no survivors. Andrea trapped her victims, picking them off one by one, disemboweling some, slicing and dropping others from great heights just to watch their bodies burst. Her team was going crazy trying to contact her but she was blinded by blood-lust. They had lost her to a murderous euphoric rage. Through her radio, they heard the condemned screams. She admired the blood splatters when the bodies hit the ground. Finally, the blood spilt by her hand was for a good cause. That was what she told herself. This was her redemption. 

Her attention was drawn away from the executive she was toying with by the loud sound of a roaring engine. Curiosity or familiarity getting the best of her, Andrea’s eyes followed the sound of the roar. Before she could witness the source, a powerful blast from a scattergun grazed her wings, causing her to drop the magnate prematurely. Ignoring the eventual splatter, she finally laid eyes on him. On the ground, idling beside human remains, was a mechanical man on a duocycle. Her suspicions were confirmed. It was the Shining Booster Techrider! A figure from the past to all those who lived in either part of the city, decommissioned after the night the barrier went up. Somehow returned once the barrier was no more, just as she had been.

Before she could question him, he spoke, “That was your only warning,” He spoke clearly and with unwavering authority, “This is your injunction: Justice is here, cease this slaughter at once, for my Judgement is inescapable.”

In the brief moment he paused for her surrender, she shot up into the air just in time to avoid his second spray of gunfire. Andrea could barely manage a counterattack, instead resorted to enacting a defensive attack pattern as she soared through the city, dodging blasts that were tearing up the buildings all around her.

To make matters worse, soon another thundering engine noise approached, and Andrea quickly realized there was another pursuer ploughing through the parkway after them. The armored man! Why had he returned? She couldn’t question him with now two killers in pursuit. Her anger boiled. She no longer wished to run away. She fought back. She would not die today. Her eagerness to win this time made up for her weaker body. Being blinded by her rage and survival instinct made time for her an elusive thing. Before she knew it, the battle was continuing inside train tunnels.

The last thing she remembered was the blinding light of an approaching train. Then, darkness.

Once more, Andrea awoke on the operating table. Her family as well as her two friends were there when she woke up this time, all showing their concern over her mental state. She let out a sob before breaking down into hysterics. She had been so driven by the emotions she was starved of for years. But now, she was finally free of the revenge that had consumed her heart. With her friend’s and family’s help, she learned to forgive herself and rightly get back on track. She would steadfastly serve her original intent of making a difference to the people troubled by hopelessness and despair. She would be known as the Angelguard who protected and brought peace to the unified city.

The summons slowed over the next few years, until one day an urgent alert opens the steel hatch in front of her, allowing light upon her once more. She took off into the sky with a loud and piercing screech. Pausing in the sun for a mere nanosecond, she peered into the office of Duun Strutts from above, and saw him on the floor by his desk, clutching his arm. Over him stood a figure heavily clad in white chitinous armor that covered his robust figure from head to toe. His helmet had, large, glowing red eyes. It didn’t matter what he was, only that he was clearly her target. She didn’t need to process the situation any longer. She lunged, crashing through the window and impaling the unfamiliar figure and taking him into the sky, away from her master. While smashing this being into surrounding skyscrapers, Andrea picked up a unique energy signature within him thanks to her electronically wired brain. Without need for thought, she was able to disrupt it using the talon impaling his abdomen.

Once she was in the sky, she didn’t need anything so direct as being given an order. It was as if Andrea instinctively knew to take the fight beyond the city and into the unfinished zone. She obeyed the order the instant it was triggered. With the man still impaled on her talon, she took flight at such incredible speeds that windows shattered as she whizzed past the high-rise buildings all around. Andrea left a wake of destruction, using the passing buildings as blunt force weapons, somehow knowing light property damage was not the reasoning to take this fight away from the Inner City. 

Passed the barrier, she detached him from her talon by throwing the man through the window of an abandoned, half-finished shopping mall. She followed him, not sparing him a second to recover enough to retaliate. Grabbing the being who was somehow still alive by the neck, Andrea dragged his body down the side of the building making a mess of the brickwork in the process. Halfway down, she let him freefall, adding to his acceleration with slashes from her razor-sharp talons. His body makes an impact when it slams into the ground. Andrea wasn’t done with him. She took off into the air once more, spinning gracefully before dive-bombing back down onto her target’s dented metal body.

Her arms were a flurry of brutal slashes, effectively tearing off the man’s armor which was getting in her way of doing some real damage. From there, she expected a clean kill. Something had given her opponent a second wind, however. He rose to his feet even after a barrage of attacks that should’ve left him as dust. He counterattacks, impossibly catching Andrea off guard and relieving her of one of her legs. She let out a piercing, inhuman screech of annoyance.

Lacking balance, she shot into the air once more to gain the lateral advantage. But there, with the backdrop of a full moon, Andrea noticed that the shield had come down. She didn’t make the connection between that and her opponent’s sudden strength. Instead, her concern was only the barrier. Something in her programming told her without it, it was pointless fighting the man. A machine brain made the decision to retreat. In the seconds it took to process that all, the man had fired a powerful gravity sphere attack. The minute distraction was not enough to gain the upper hand as Andrea easily deflected it back at him in an impressive mid-air flip and flap of her one wing. She didn’t wait to see if the volley hit. Andrea zoomed off back to the tower.

Her heightened senses alerted her to a presence close behind. Still moving at full speed, she cast a glance behind her to see the man was hot on her tail. He was unusually resilient. A being unlike any she’s encountered before. It was only then did she start to consider he was something more than human. Like her. She would’ve enjoyed the challenge if she was capable of feeling. He was gaining on her, scaling buildings and running along rooftops at a speed that should’ve been impossible. She was almost at the tower, then she would lose him and – 

The man, or whatever it was, leapt into the air with amazing timing and grabbed onto her remaining leg, using it to throw her with incredible force through the roof of Stutts’ tower. The roles were now reversed. This would’ve been an apt time for Andrea to feel a sense of dread, yet even now, nothing… It was his turn not to give her a chance to defend herself. Unleashing his full force, he went for her armor – cracking through it like a nut with an expert dropkick. She retaliated in kind with a slashing of her wing which sent at him a flurry of metal feathers as sharp as throwing knives.

Despite some piecing his armour, he was undeterred. Andrea’s scarred face contorted into something that resembled a frown. She had never met a foe anywhere near this formidable. Her processor brain calculated a tactical retreat would be wise. Her advantage was in the air so that was where she withdrew. She was followed outside but not into the air. The man instead continued to scale the building to the very top where the deactivated Spire stood motionless. He ripped the stilled power conduit from the foundations. Then, taking only a moment to lock onto her position in the moonlit sky, swung the thing at her like a giant bat that sent her back into the tower. By the time Andrea got her bearings, the man had altered his grip on the Spire, wielding it now like a javelin with agile ease.

Her eyes widened as the thing was hurled towards her, filling the whole room and leaving her with no escape route. Andrea attempted to brace herself but that was a difficult task with one leg. The Spire impaled her. Her attacker pushed down and twisted so the thing screwed into the ground – pinning her there while she was blinded by her own blood and oil that sprayed from her ruptured body.

Even her advanced body couldn’t survive that injury. Her regenerative cells couldn’t fix the gaping hole in her torso with the Spire still inside her. As she bled out, her consciousness became a fickle thing to cling to. Andrea watched her target through increasingly blurry eyes. She had failed her master who was now in danger. Attempting to move only elevated the rate at which she felt the life leaving her. Helplessly she watched as her foe – the man or being that defeated her. It should have been impossible. In the place of what should’ve been a sense of despair at her failure, was instead a hollow feeling. The desk Duun was covering behind was tossed aside. Andrea reached out an arm, growing weaker by the second. Though her senses were diminishing, she could still hear the sound of two more people in the room. Her vision was too blurry to make out more than the silhouette of one tall person and one short. They were approaching her but she had lost the cognitive ability to work out why. She let her eyes close and gave into the darkness.

With the deal accepted and her mother’s encouragement, the rest of the family packed up and followed Andrea’s golden opportunity to the Inner City. Before she was even able to fully unpack with everyone in their new home, further augments were requested by her wealthy benefactor. He wanted his future bodyguard to be top-of-the-line. As such, no expense was spared. With all charges covered for the accommodation that was provided up front, she felt indebted and thus couldn’t refuse. She spent the next few weeks undergoing surgeries and then recovering the bare minimum before heading back in for more. This repeated until she had all new sensory and movement enhancements along with inhuman reaction and processing speeds.

When they were done tinkering with her – for now, at least – she could finally take the time getting accustomed to the mid-class district and settle in with her family. It wasn’t as peaceful of an environment as she needed. Arguments sprouted amongst her cousins about abandoning the home and community that they had built. Andrea didn’t think to point out how hypocritical that was. With the barrier going up, there wasn’t much they could do. Being on this side of the fence, they were inclined to agree it was for the best. It didn’t stop them from just wanting to voice their anger though…

The rumors began to circulate upwards from the forsaken Outer City. There was widespread outrage and some small protests already brewing. Her heart clenched when she heard in passing the names of her old friends amongst a list of known agitators. They had stood up against this nonsensical division and were front and center in leading pushbacks against this definitive disunion. The unrest was still in its early days, but she feared what conflict her erstwhile friends would soon end up involved in. Those who were willing to give an answer to those demanding one, simply said the division was what needed to be done for the benefit and security of all. That was only the opinion of those who truly benefitted from it, of course. Instead of finishing the Outer district, the Executives decided that resources needed to be allocated to researching the spaceship and developing an adequate defense should its owner return. 

On the night before the shield was to go up, Duun Strutts arrived with his entourage to the residence of Andrea and her family. He stated clearly that it was time for more augments, emanating an aura that allowed no space in the room for any follow-ups. Duun wasn’t a man who liked to be questioned. She followed him to his vehicle, but was left pondering what more they could do to her body. Wasn’t she already more augment than human at this point? Her unease only grew as they did not elaborate about its details. Unbeknownst to her, this would be the most drastic change of her life.

This operation differed from the previous ones. They weren’t enhancing muscle power or tweaking nerves and receptors. This one was far simpler in comparison. A single chip, no larger than a fingernail, was inserted into Andrea’s brain. Its goal was one to throw away ethics: to erase all human emotions. Tears, laughter, and anger. A mental overhaul. She would respond emotionlessly to commands, no matter the moral questionability. Her reactions – which were already superhuman – would no longer be delayed by conscious hesitancy. 

Duun Strutts admired his masterpiece once she came out of the operating theatre. Though nothing had changed about her physically this time, there was a clear change to her demeanor. He smiled in sadistic satisfaction at seeing the lifeless sheen that glossed over her eyes. She would be perfect for his intended purposes – to crush anyone who dared to rise up against him and his regime without a hint of remorse or doubt.

Naturally, on the night of the shield’s activation, there were violet and tumultuous riots forming around the Barrier Pillars. Impromptu bonfires lit up the grim faces of an already poverty-stricken population. The full force of both the ICSF and OCSF was on the scene, all led by Andrea. Her troops weren’t aware of the controlling chip in her and were left clueless about her new, cold attitude. Without a hint of emotion, she informed them of what she had been told earlier. The use of lethal force had been authorized. 

She rallied officers who dawdled with uncertainty. A few threats later and she had them moving with her as they met the resistance at the Barrier. Not a single warning was given to those attempting to breach into the Inner City. She opened fire. Only a few followed suit, and nobody stopped her. As she quelled the crowd with force, a sense of familiarity caused her vision to linger on the faces of her old friends. Some part of her true self remained and clearly recognized them, but her body didn’t respond to seeing their initially determined and then harrowed expressions. She watched their bodies become riddled with bullets shot by her hand. The sound of the gunfire was louder than their cries. Even when they fell to the ground, she made sure they would never again get back to their feet. She had to defeat the retaliation. She fired until she ran out of bullets. It was a massacre of familiar faces. She felt no guilt and shed no tears.

After that night, her benefactor changed his mind about simply allowing her to serve the ICSF Tech Squad. Instead, being so impressed with her performance, he appointed her as his personal bodyguard. He had invested so much in her after all. He didn’t even let her return to her family after the mission. Not that he cared, but it was for the best. His true intentions for her were finally revealed. After a few years and a close call, he felt particularly inspired, ordering a complete overhaul of Andrea. Under the knife she went for a complete spinal replacement and the removal of her augmented arms and legs. Fitted in their place were insanely strong mechanical limbs. She was kitted out to be more of a weapon than the bodyguard Duun claimed her to be.

Through the constant violence of her assignments and his insistent tweaking of her ‘design’, her once innocent and beautiful face soon became a mess of scar tissue and stitches. Her stunning, friendly blue eyes were replaced with bionic ones that were as unwelcoming and hollow to look at as the rest of her. Golden locks were hacked off and shaved down for convenience. A super soldier couldn’t afford to be slowed down by hair getting in her eyes, after all.

Eventually, the man grew bored of his little pet project. He wanted bigger, better and more outrageous. So he got creative. The next big change was an even more drastic one. He ordered giant bird-like talons for all appendages and a single large wing which protruded from her spine. It was perfect to scratch that itch to create something so powerful and never seen before. Unfortunately, she was now no longer aesthetically pleasing enough to accompany him as a daily bodyguard. She was altered beyond any other being, something barely capable of being labelled a human anymore. Andrea was a husk of her old self with nothing left to identify her by.

So Duun, wanting to keep up his own image, decided to seal her away in Strutts’ Tower – the tallest structure in the city that was topped by The Spire, a spiral extension that protruded into the sky and defined the Barrier. If he ever needed her services though, she was only a push of a button away. He had a remote that sent a signal directly to her brain, allowing him to keep Andrea at his beck and call. Only he could enter and exit the part of the tower she was locked in by its main door. As such, Andrea’s only exit was a hatch on the side of the building, only opening by the push of the same button that activated her. Witnesses of her leaping from the side of the ominous structure, swooping down at insane speeds to her master in his office just above, would barely believe their eyes. 

Some days Duun Stutts’ orders were bloody – as to be expected of the corporate assassinations. Others, the man simply wanted to show off and gloat over his monstrous creation, taunting underlings before their demise or flaunting over other wealthy aristocrats who couldn’t compare to his outlandish invention.

It took Duun Stutts some time to get used to the surprise that came with his personal bodyguard slash assassin when she appeared before him, only moments after summoning her. He would hear a faint screech which would be loud and piecing to anyone nearby. Then a wind-shifting flap of her wing and finally, CRASH. She would land mere feet away, either impaling her target or standing to attention, depending only on the way the button was pressed. Soon enough, he became almost as unphased by the murders that happened in front of him as Andrea was. Something she lacked though, was his immense sense of pride at the killing machine, but also the underlying fear that came with knowing exactly what she was capable of. 

Andrea’s decision to join the OCSF was a source of immense pride for her family. However, her close friends were less thrilled. For years they’d been the type to hang around in the sewers, spending their time scavenging the unfinished Outer City. They had always derided the Inner City’s leadership and lamented about all of them being an afterthought, a group to either ignore or oppress. The mentality held by the majority in the Outer City was “us against them”. It was no different for Andrea’s friendship group. They strongly believed the Inner Citizens were undeserving resource hoarders, whereas the hard-working Outer Citizens had been left with next to nothing. 

What was once idle complaining between disgruntled teens eventually developed into plans of action as they matured into hardened, indignant young adults. But when she told them about the opportunities her career could provide, her friends didn’t see joining the Inner City’s “Olive Branch” OCSF as an acceptable answer. They knew in their hearts that the only way to get the resources to continue building the Outer City was to take them – by protest if necessary and not exclusively peaceful. And so, on the day of Andrea’s acceptance into the security forces, she was no longer able to call most of those she had spent her youth with friends. They ostracized her for siding with “the enemy”. 

Only her two closest friends kept in contact with her. The two were opposites in size but equal in loyalty to their friend. They came to her graduation party, one giving her a tight hug around her waist, the other lifting her off the ground with a huge bear hug. When it was time to say goodbye, she watched them walk off. She knew things would be different, but was blissfully unaware that this would be the final time she would ever see them through her own eyes…

Working in security was everything she hoped it would be. But there was always more she thought she could do. And that meant she needed a promotion. Ascending the ranks in the force was not as straightforward as she had imagined, and justice often took a different shape than her compassionate nature would have liked. But rise she did. Once she reached High Officer, it became more difficult to keep up with her peers. The more authority she gained, the less respect she received from her new peer group. Then there was the calibre of criminal she was expected to go up against. 

In the field, it was all too common to augment the self with cybernetics. Though Andrea was initially trepidatious, the benefits quickly became tempting. They’d definitely prove useful when ambushing whole criminal syndicates by herself. Simple arm and leg enhancements were all she felt she needed, and she was correct, soon becoming an Elite Officer.

Though she was making good money, her family depended on her financial support. From schooling costs to medical bills, every credit earned when into their care. This meant she could not afford the further augments required to qualify for the highest role one from the Outer City could achieve; Tech Squad. 

For her, management was never the goal. She preferred to be out on the streets, interacting with the people she was actively helping and seeing the situations they were in firsthand. It was important to her to have a personal connection with those she was assisting. Andrea didn’t want to forget where she came from. Though that wasn’t hard. Every day was a constant reminder that she had to live behind a blockade of class. Walking a fine financial balance was a constant stress. She couldn’t both provide for her family and simultaneously get enough enhancements to get promoted to the role she wanted to become. It was an unfortunate and unpleasant conundrum. 

Her languishing did not last long, however, for whispers began of something that was about to change the lives of everyone in both the Inner and Outer City districts: A barrier would be activated in the coming weeks, one that would forever divide both regions. Andrea probed her commanding officers to find out what that meant exactly. Those that had connections to the barrier construction teams informed her that it would completely restrict travel and what little supplies were being sent to the unfinished zone.

This meant many things. The Outer City would be completely abandoned, left to fend for themselves. There would be uproar, riots, and a whole lot more work for her. Would Andrea be able to keep up with her minimal augmentations? That was only the start of her long list of troubles to come.

On one of the following days, a powerful Executive from the Inner City by the name of Duun Strutts, took a tour of the local security station, looking to bolster his personal security detail. The brass of the station ordered all officers who resided in the Outer City to line up for inspection. When the tycoon laid eyes on Andrea, he stopped in his tracks and immediately approached her. She felt her skin crawl as he complimented its alabaster nature and pushed a lock of her shock-blonde hair out of her face. She had the good sense not to flinch away from the unwanted touch despite her innate desire to. He stared into her azure eyes and commented to her Chief and Commissioner that “it would be a waste to let one as beautiful as this” be locked out of the Inner zone. 

The new position would require her to relocate to the Inner City and join the conglomerated City Security Force. She knew there was no way to turn down this offer without dire consequences. In that moment, all eyes on her, she had no one to turn to. She felt hope sink out of her as they continued to explain the position. Panic struck her knowing she would have to abandon her family outside the gate, leaving them to fend for themselves. Despite knowing it was a death wish, for the sake of her family, she had to refuse the offer. However, before she could get a single word out, as if reading her mind, the Executive guaranteed to bring her family along with her, as well as finance her augments that would place her far above Tech Squad. He had done his homework. Now there was neither true choice nor option. In what would become the biggest regret of her life, she agreed then and there.