by Ryan Tang
"She was the ultimate convenience! Time on the simulator whenever I pleased! Drinks available all the time. And if I needed it – a ready target for my anger! Perfect! Perfect! Perfect! Genius! It was the most genius thing ever done! My friends on Generosity admitted it!"
Alex forced her words out of her mouth. She'd expected every ghoulish phrase but one.
"What do you mean by the rightful princess of Plenty?"
Stock chuckled.
"I mean she was my daughter! The only one who didn't join me in godhood."
He shook his head sadly.
"No, she ran away. She was always the one who needed the most punishment. She never believed."
His daughter? She was his daughter? And he'd just admitted to sacrificing his other children.
Alex reached into her pocket. She should just kill him. Everything would be so much easier if she just killed him. She could tell people he jumped at her. Hell, he might even be able to goad him into jumping at her.
Her heart pounded in her chest.
Her stomach felt so sour it was painful.
Then she remembered Jared's words again.
She left the room without another word, as Stock yelled after her, begging her to tell him what had happened to the daughter he'd named Cyber Girl.
____
Leanne scoffed from the screen of Alex's tablet.
"You can't tell people you found a gun."
She shook her head.
"That's ridiculous. The person you are trying to investigate will immediately know you found out. It's nonsense."
Alex's first instinct had been to tell everyone, but the two guards had quickly talked her out of it. After they left, the guards had called Leanne and asked her to ensure Alex's silence. It wasn't a surprise. Before her injury, Leanne had been one of the most diligent citizens when it came to maintaining the unofficial guard outside Stock's home. She was close with all the guards.
The librarian leaned against the bookshelf in her office and sighed. She hadn't wanted to talk with Leanne. She was reluctant to overtax her friend, but the words had tumbled out before the librarian could stop herself.
It was hard to think. The thought that someone had betrayed the colony was a constant drumbeat at the back of her skull. Someone had betrayed Plenty. And not just Plenty, but Alex herself. Stock had been trying to shoot her specifically.
"Did anyone outside figure out what happened?"
"No, the guards said it was just an accident. A backfiring pipe on his stove. Apparently, it didn't sound like a gun if you were further outside."
The image of Stock fumbling at his blanket ricocheted inside her mind. If she'd hesitated just a moment longer. If the shards had snagged in the pocket of her dress. Stock was an idiot, but a gun was a gun. If anything had gone wrong, she'd be dead.
Leanne's eye was looking better, and she wasn't wincing anymore. She was lying comfortably against the headboard of her bed at home.
"That's what Craig told me, but I wanted to check. This isn't anything like the ghosts. That time, we thought there might be an accomplice, but this time, we know there's one. And besides, a rogue Paragon is a very different thing compared to a rogue assassin. The Paragons aren't subtle weapons. In this case, the assassin's subtlety is the only advantage they have. If he doesn't know we know about him, it means we're in the perfect position to capture him."
She held up her hand, which was missing her three middle fingers, and smirked.
"And I know just how to do it."
She wagged her tablet and rolled her eyes before Alex could say anything."
"Best of all, I can do it from right here. I won't be overstressing anyone or anything."
"How?"
Leanne's confidence was the first ray of hope through the mire of Alex's worries. The thought of a traitor terrified her, and not just because of the danger to her life. As Alex found out on Plenty, she wasn't any good at subterfuge.
"The food basket, remember? Weren't you the one who told the guards to investigate it? They've asked me to help out."
She shrugged casually.
"It looks like the traitor left a long trail to obfuscate his path. He's a smart guy, but I'm smarter. I'll figure it out. There's no need to alarm everyone over nothing. The traitor probably doesn't suspect a thing."
That was true. It'd only been a few hours since the incident. Whoever it was couldn't have expected Alex to visit Stock immediately. They couldn't have predicted that Alex would want to learn more about the girl.
Cyber Girl.
Alex shivered.
She shook her head and tried to shove the name out of her mind.
Cyber Girl wasn't a real name. It was just another one of Stock's horrific delusions. Alex had to reject it. The girl probably hated that name. But it was still sticking in her mind despite her best efforts. Alex frowned and shook her head again, trying to clear away the intrusive thought as if it were some sort of insect.
Leanne frowned.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
Nobody else knew about Cyber Girl, and at least for now, Alex didn't want them to know. The girl had asked her not to tell.
Leanne's next sentence jerked Alex out of her thoughts.
"This is personal, by the way. It's not a coincidence this happened after our announcement. It's meddling from Generosity. We can't act disorganized now. We need to show our strength!"
Alex blinked.
She hadn't even thought about the timing. And now that Leanne had named the culprit, it seemed obvious. Her confrontation with Joshua Steel on Diligence had ended with him fleeing the colony, but she'd seen the wealth and excess in his private office. His Family could easily hire a long line of traitors and assassins.
"We can't be shamed. We can't seem disorganized! If the other Families smell blood, they'll all strike together. My guess is we're only dealing with Evan's Family now."
According to Leanne, if the twenty Major and Minor Families of Generosity united, they'd become an unstoppable force. But usually, the Families ruthlessly attacked each other, desperate for any advantage. Steel's machinations on Diligence, an attempt to create War Paragons so his Family could slaughter the others, were a typical example of their mercilessness.
"Don't worry about the traitor. This is perfect. I wanted a way to contribute while staying at home. You should stay inside, by the way. Things could be dangerous. I think for now you should remain inside the Spire until we find out what's going on. Even the Eternium Veins might be too slow. When we practice our music, you can just stay inside your Paragon."
Alex gulped. The thought still felt surreal. Someone had tried to assassinate her.
"Yes. It probably would be best for me to stay inside."
Leanne smiled, but her enthusiasm seemed flat and dismayed. Alex could see how much the idea of a traitor paid by Generosity bothered her friend.
"Don't worry. I'll solve this as soon as possible. Just make sure you stay inside for now."
As soon as Leanne signed off, there was a slight knock right next to Alex's ear. It started out small at first. It could have been nothing more than books shifting from side to side. But the knocking quickly grew faster and more persistent.
The librarian closed the door and entered the book-corridors. The girl was waiting for her on the other side of the wall.
____
The girl's mutilated tool-hands were crossed tightly across her chest.
"Hi."
She was Stock's daughter, and he'd mutilated and enslaved her. Alex let out a long breath that she hoped wasn't too noticeable. Then she made herself smile at Cyber Girl.
Alex caught herself.
She couldn't call her that.
"What's your name?"
The girl quickly shook her head.
"Don't have one."
That's what Alex thought.
The shaking grew faster.
"No. No. Don't have one."
Alex regretted bringin
g it up. The librarian tried to make a noise that sounded like an airy laugh, but it came out like choking.
"Maybe we can make you a name?"
"No. Don't want a name. No."
Alex gulped. She couldn't call her Cyber Girl to her face. No, it was deeper than that. Alex shouldn't think of her as Cyber Girl even in her heart. She couldn't cede that name to Stock.
But the girl was alright now. She might not have a name, but Stock could never hurt her again. Alex reminded herself, then reminded herself again. She clenched that thought as hard as she could. Even if someone killed her, she'd make sure this girl was alright.
Her grin gained a bit more lift.
"Want to read?"
Her response was quick and abrupt.
"No."
She stared warily around the corridors.
"Too scared to read."
Alex realized she must have been listening to their conversation through the walls.
"Is it true Stock tried to escape?"
"Yeah."
The girl instinctively turned to run, but Alex reached out and pulled her back.
"I'll protect you."
The girl's face was tight with fear. She was skeptical, but there was a faint and heartbreaking glow in her eyes. She wanted to believe.
"I'll protect you. I beat him last time, and I'll beat him again."
Alex chuckled.
"If we're being honest, I beat him a couple of hours ago too."
The girl blinked.
"Just now?"
"Yeah."
"How did you beat him?"
"He pulled out a gun and tried to shoot me. I pulled out these shards and..."
Alex showed her.
The blue shield blossomed, filling the corridors with light.
"Wow, that easy?"
"It was harder the first time."
The girl's fear was beginning to thaw. Her words were eager instead of hesitant. A timid smile bloomed across her face.
"How'd you beat him the first time?"
Alex grinned.
"We all stood together. The Spire stood with me too."
She touched the ground and concentrated.
A model of her Paragon emerged from the ground. The blue machine was nearly identical to the one she'd given the girl, but the Eternium gave it an inner light nothing, not even Andrew's brilliantly crafted creations, could hope to match.
The girl gasped.
"That machine was yours?"
She pushed her cup holder hand into the ground again, but once again, only a few stray strands emerged. The Eternium coiled into a miniature head and torso, but it went no further.
The machine had three eyes, just like Captain Ray's.
The girl scowled. Alex gently took her hand off the Eternium floor.
"We'll work on it. You have the talent. Trust me when I tell you that you're already farther along than almost anyone else."
Only Leanne could rival this girl's abilities.
"But listen. I didn't beat him just because of the Paragon. It's because we all worked together. It's because my friends and I stood together and took away his power. He had a Paragon too. And a monster, a horrible monster."
Cyber Girl breathed out.
"Yes. God. I heard him brag about it. He said he was a god."
"We beat all of it - his god, his company, his Paragon. All of it. He's useless now. He's so weak. He's like the weakest person I can think of. But even if he got it all again, we'd just beat him again. We'd stand together and beat him again."
For a moment, a sudden gush of hate and bile locked her tongue, but Alex forced the words through.
"And I promise you this. If he goes after you, we'll stand beside you too. Not just me. Everyone on Plenty. We'll kill him before he hurts you again."
The girl's smile blossomed from ear to ear, cracking the congealed dirt and grime on her face. The girl probably didn't have anywhere to clean herself. Alex shook her head. She should have said something. She should have at least offered the girl a towel. She could have sneaked her into a bath.
What was she doing?
She had no idea how to take care of someone.
She thought about calling her parents, but the girl said not to tell anyone. Alex had to respect that, even if the girl would never know.
"You know what? I'm going to be inside the tower anyways."
"Because someone's trying to get you?"
Alex shrugged.
"Yeah. Like I said, we are on a team on Plenty. So I'm going to stay safe here, and my friends are going to find out what's wrong. But look."
She gently took the girl into her arms.
"I'll be here to protect you too. I'm invincible inside the Spire. The tower will protect me no matter what happens. And I'll make a room for you inside the tunnels. I already have one on the 8th floor. You can have your own books and bed and everything. You don't need to worry about being seen. I'll tell people your floor is private and never to enter."
The girl just stared at her. Alex hastily went on, unsure of whether she was convincing her or driving her away.
"They won't check your tunnel if I tell them not to. They won't. Everyone trusts each other. And you can watch us play music from the window. It'll be easier to hear the music. And you can peek outside and see what's going on. You can see the Paragons in real life too. They're huge and really cool!"
The girl was silent for a moment longer.
Alex scrambled madly for something to say, but she had nothing left to offer.
"I'll -"
The girl cut her off.
"Are you really that strong?"
Alex paused.
"Can you really keep him away?"
She wasn't sure what to say.
But then she thought of Stock and how she'd crushed him in spite of his profound wealth, in spite of the goddess by his side, in spite of his Paragon.
She thought of how she helped solve the mystery of the rogue Paragons and the Eternium ghosts.
She thought of Diligence and how she stood proudly by Hector's side as he ended Steel's fraudulent term as Governor. How she'd stolen the schematics for her friends on Plenty, who'd built a hundred machines in a single night.
Sometimes she was lucky.
Sometimes she was just in the right place.
But she always fought hard.
And her friends were always by her side.
"Yeah. We're all strong."
The librarian grinned.
"And I'm the strongest. I'm Plenty's ace. Think about it. I have my own model Paragon."
____
Alex spent the rest of the day setting up the girl's room. She bent the wall and tucked a neat little alcove on the 7th floor. She was careful to ensure that the ladder's steps were as wide as possible so that the girl could climb on them with her mutilated hands. Alex sighed. She wanted to ask the girl about removing her tool-hands, but she wasn't sure how to bring it up. Just asking for a name had almost frightened her into fleeing. The experience of having them grafted must have been horrifying, but undoing the damage could be just as traumatizing.
Wouldn't the girl ask if she wanted the hands removed? Did she even know if it was possible?
Alex wished she knew what to do. It took finishing the room to bring a small smile to the librarian's face.
A big bed with two full shelves of books. A large table with an army of model Paragons she got from Andrew. She put in an interior window for the days the girl wanted Alex to bring food to her without talking, and she put a clear path to an abandoned side office with a big window.
When she finished, Alex sent the girl a message on the new tablet she'd given her. Then the librarian stepped into her office and summoned her Paragon. She wanted to make sure they'd practice within a clear view of the office window.
To her surprise, Leanne was one of the people waiting in the courtyard. Before Alex could say anything else, her friend sprinted toward her machine and stood beneath the tip of the cres
cent moon flight pack.
"Don't worry. Courtney says it's alright. I'm just going to practice for a bit. Plus I wanted to update you. It's trickier than I thought it'd be."
Alex's heart sank. Leanne's lips were pressed tightly together, and her forehead wrinkled as she spoke. Leanne was one of the most brilliant people Alex knew. The traitor must be someone extremely cunning.
"Alright. Look. There was definitely some sort of conspiracy. It was so carefully hidden. We still have no idea what happened."
Leanne sighed.
"You ready for this?"
"Yeah."
"You're going to want to write this down."
Alex frowned as Leanne pulled a notebook out of her bag and began to recite what she'd written.
"So, the person who was supposed to bring the meal was Doug, but he got a substitute."
That wasn't a surprise. Doug was notoriously lazy. His poor behavior frustrated Alex just as much as anyone, but it was just a single person. Most people viewed his poor behavior as a one-off. Everyone else knew to appreciate what they had.
"When I asked Doug, he said Courtney agreed to substitute for him."
Alex shook her head.
"There's no way."
"Yeah, of course not."
Courtney was the best doctor on the colony. She'd never leave the hospital during her daytime shift.
"According to Margaret, the person who actually went to pick up the meal was Andrew."
"So why did he think it was Courtney?"
"Well, when I asked Andrew, he said that he thought he was substituting for Courtney, not for Doug. But when I doubled back to ask Courtney, she said she picked up the meal when she was getting lunch. The pianist said she could take it if Courtney brought it back to the hospital for her. So now it sounds like there are two meals out there."
Alex's head spun.
"Can I see your paper?"
Leanne sent a picture straight to Alex's tablet. She'd diagrammed everything in her notebook. Andrew and Courtney both thought they were substituting. Courtney brought her meal back to the hospital, thinking her pianist was supposed to take it.
Alex groaned. Anyone could get a meal if they walked into the kitchen. It would be easy to disguise who the gun came from. But that wasn't quite right.
"But wait. What about the guards outside? Wouldn't they notice two meals?"