Check out Part 1 here.
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Fyn turns her attention from one screen to another, drawn by movement and a subtle beep. She sees Eagna gazing into the camera, glancing left and right down the halls, then back into the lens again. She turns off the first monitor and covers it with a curtain.
Cracking the door, Fyn observes her dishevelled guest. “Eagna.”
“May I come in, please?”
Fyn takes a step back and Eagna hurries inside. Fyn closes the door, locks it, takes a deep breath, then turns to face Eagna. “To what do I owe the honour?” She returns to her seat and lights a Nadibis, smoking it as she cycles camera views on the monitor.
“I need your help.” Eagna sits where she can see the surveillance monitor. “I need a new suite under a fake name.”
“Oh?” Fyn ashes the nadibis, her eyes still glued to the monitor. It finally shows the camera view of the front door again, releasing Fyn’s full attention to Eagna. “What makes you think I could do something like-”
“Cut the shit. I know you can do it.”
Fyn’s left eyebrow flinches into an upward position, jerking a smirk up with it. “Fine. Why do you need this?”
Eagna looks down at her wrinkled cuffs. “I’d rather not say.”
“Get over it.”
Eagna sighs. “I was-” She chooses her words carefully. “-attacked by a… student.”
“You’re really bad at this.”
“Are you going to help me or not?”
Fyn takes a long drag of her nadi as she studies Eagna’s expressions. “So you were attacked by a student. Why not just take the matter to security? Did you kill them?”
“What? No! I’m sure she’s fine.”
“Okay. Circling back to the first question then.”
“Because I don’t know who I can tru- oh… You know what?” Eagna appears on her feet. “This was a bad idea.” She begins backing towards the door. “Um, sorry I bothered you. Forget I was here, yeah?” She unlocks the door with one hand as she points at it with the other. “I’ll just let myself out.”
Fyn extinguishes her nadibis. “This student— Did she say anything?”
Eagna freezes for a moment, then closes the door. “Will you do as I say?”
“Dammit! I knew it!” Fyn stands, watching Eagna’s every micro-expression as she slides her hand behind the curtain, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of a blade. “And what did you say?”
Eagna locks the door and faces Fyn. She opens her mouth to speak, but looks down at her sleeves again instead.
“Don’t look at your sleeves! Answer me!” Her muscles tense, especially the arm with the hand behind the curtain. “What did you say when she asked: Will you do as I say?”
“I will not.”
Fyn eases. She picks up her pack of Nadibis and offers one to Eagna. “Sit back down. I’ll help you.” She checks the lock on the door and lights a new nadi of her own. “She’s quite potent, the one that came for you tonight.”
“She’s too young—”
“To be that strong? Yeah, that too.” Fyn uncovers the curtained monitor, turns it back on, and gets to work.
“You’ve encountered her before?”
“Face to face - no. But I’ve heard her say it before, with her hair down. Did she have her hair down?”
Eagna nods. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, I was rendered— how should I put it? Unavailable. For a week.” She sets the cameras to cycle again, looks back at Eagna, and nods towards the monitor.
Eagna shifts her gaze. “You broke the connection?”
“Her range is still quite limited. Small mercies, right?.” A window pops up on the main screen. “Okay, I’ve got you on the next ride to the Abyss. You need to be seen boarding it. When you reach the last stop, go to the on-board lavatory.”
“Go back!” Eagna’s eyes are fixed on the surveillance monitor.
Fyn manually cycles through previously displayed cameras until she comes to one with a person present.
“That’s her!”
“Okay, then.” Fyn starts shoving tools and weapons and gadgets into hard cases and canvas bags. “Head to the Blue lift, then take the 3rd level halls to the transport station. I’ll meet you for breakfast.”
“Thank you.”
Fyn locks the door behind Eagna and returns to her hurried packing. She stores everything, including the computers, in two duffel bags. She then slides those bags into a smaller bag hanging from the belt on her hip.
She takes one last look at the now barren suite. “Goodbye, convenient location.” She exits through the balcony, scales the railings up to the roof, and walks towards the transport station.
The front door of Fyn’s abandoned home slides open, the broken lock echoing in the emptiness. The intruder from Eagna’s suite enters with three companions - the redhead closes the door. The intruder glares at the abandoned suite. “Damn ghost.”
“We’ll find them.” The redhead could already taste her mistake.
The unhinged tone in the intruder’s calm reply is sufficiently unnerving without the matching lunacy in her eyes, or the gentle caressing of the unfortunate redhead’s cheek. “I know they will.”
The other two leave without hesitation, closing the door behind them.
“But you, sweet Yi… It pleases me that you would so enthusiastically volunteer to receive the punishment I didn’t get to give to Eagna.”
Yi nearly bursts into tears. “I’m sorry, Vanya! I didn’t mean-”
Vanya shushes her. “Don’t resist. Instead, take solace in the knowledge that I will enjoy myself.”
“Please…”
“Tell you what — Submit, and I’ll tell you to enjoy yourself. That’s fair, right?”
Yi drops to one knee. “Please don’t do this. You know I’ve always been loyal.”
“And you swore to serve me, yes?”
“Y-yes.” She chokes on her first attempt and tries again. “Yes. I swore to serve your every command.”
“Then stop resisting. I want my energy for the fun part.”
Yi hangs her head and closes her eyes.
Vanya lifts Yi’s chin so their eyes meet. “Don’t be afraid.” She tilts her head and studies Yi’s fearful expression — her own expression similar to that of a child with a gift. “Will you do as I say?”
Yi exhales. “I will do as you say.”
“Very good.”
Thank you for reading. _
~PegasusPhysics