From the moment the elevator doors closed, everything was a blur.
It felt like being back at the clinic. I was present but pretending I wasn't, while dozens of hands moved over me.
They began the process of de-beautifying me. They first removed whatever chemical had held my thick hair in place for weeks.
I tried not to think of him.
Or his sad eyes when the elevator closed on me.
But there was nothing else to do.
My mind found refuge in the thought of him. I remembered the way he looked at me in the oasis the night before. I remembered his hands caressing my face.
I remembered the breath I drew when he told me he loved me.
Tears gathered under my eyelids, and I tried to control myself as the Love Machina Inc. employees peeled off the false lashes on them.
It took almost the whole day to strip me back to my old skin.
When it was finished, my old clinic uniform waited for me, folded on a chair. It was the same one I'd been so afraid to let go of a few weeks earlier.
It felt uncomfortable to put on. I realized I had put on some weight, and the rough fabric felt tight around my hips. Looking in my reflection, I patted my sides, feeling how my skin had filled with the delicious meals of the City. I will miss that too.
The only consolation was the reminder given by that uniform: at least, I won't be going back to the clinic.
It felt astonishing to me to realize I had once missed it.
When I walked out of the last room, the light outside the windows had started to decline.
I was no longer in the City, I realized, as I could see it in the distance. The tall white wall,s like a fortress around it, blended into the gold of the dunes. Would I ever go there again?
"Ready?"
Calypso waited there for me, her blond hair tied in the same tight, professional bun I'd first met her with.
But so much had changed between us.
"I'm glad it's you," I whispered as we walked the hallways, feeling relieved to meet a familiar face.
She gave me a tight smile, a small signal to say nothing more. Maybe these corridors weren't as safe as I had imagined.
"I'll get your prints here and here," she said, showing me a tablet as I pressed four fingertips against the screen.
Then, a small animation appeared on the screen where my prints registered.
"Congratulations, Sade," Callie said, giving me a big smile. I could tell she was forcing herself to stay as professional as possible, but she was truly feeling happy for me. "Your debt is officially paid off."
It felt otherworldly.
I knew I should have expected it, and yet I was still surprised by how lightheaded I felt. It was as if a massive weight had been lifted from my chest, and for the first time in forever, I could fully breathe.
Except it was too much air. I wasn't used to it.
"T-thank you," was all I managed to say, wiping a small tear from my cheek with the back of my rough uniform sleeve.
"You're free to do whatever you want now," she continued with a wide smile. "You can work where you want. You can travel where you want. You can be with who you want..."
She gave me a knowing smile.
I could only sniff, looking down at my hands together on my lap, as warm tears streamed down my cheeks.
"But you cannot stay in New Yuan City," she confirmed, echoing what I already knew. "The visa key I'll give you will let you leave the City... but never come back."
I already knew that. But I couldn't help asking anyway.
"Can I ask why?"
"Well... The company created a machina looking exactly like you. It would be strange to have two copies of the same person walking around—"
"There won't be a copy of me," I cut in.
I looked back at her just as she tilted her head, her eyes flicking to the tablet on her desk.
"My owner can't renew the contract. He doesn't have the funds. His research was discontinued. There won't be a copy of me," I said, as if I needed to convince her of it.
Again, Calypso's gaze darted quickly to her screen, then back at me.
"Right?" I pressed, my heart flipping in my chest as I leaned forward over her desk. "He'll be left alone, right? He'll have a chance to—Callie, you have to tell me."
Using a nickname I wasn't supposed to know triggered something in her.
"Actually..." she murmured, frowning at her screen. "I see that he just did."
"He just did what?"
"He renewed the contract. A few hours ago."
The boulder that had been lifted from my shoulders came crashing back down with full force.
"That's impossible," my breathing hitched. "His research was discontinued—"
"He has a new project now," she said, scrolling through the information in front of her.
"What project?"
Calypso's pupils widened for a brief instant at whatever she read on the screen. Then, just as quickly, she had recomposed her face already, looking back at me with a ready-made answer.
"I can't disclose this informa—"
Leaping to my feet, hands slamming on her desk, I was already leaning over to see her screen.
"Hey!" Callie protested too late.
There it was.
The one thing I was scared V would be involved with.
The one project I knew Tardigrad was investigating.
And incriminating anyone entangled with it.
Homo Fortis.
No. I refused to accept it.
If what Vincent told me was correct... I refused to believe that V would want to join such an unethical project.
When I met Calypso's eyes again, I knew that she was aware of the magnitude of this research project.
And what it meant for V to be involved.
"He must not know what it really is!" I defended him already. "He's smart, but his social skills—"
"Sade, calm down—Please—"
I hadn't realized I was standing until she grabbed my arms, trying to guide me back into my seat.
Sitting again, the rough fabric of my clinic uniform tightened around my stomach, and I was suddenly reminded of where I was... and how little power I really had.
I had to think fast.
In front of me, Calypso got busy typing on the desk, as if she couldn't wait to end this meeting now.
I bit the inside of my cheek, realizing I was the one who had given access to V's computer. I remembered that silver key I slipped to Firinne at the Love Machina meeting. Soon, they will know V was part of this project.
I had come here thinking V was safe. Not just from Love Machina Inc. and their machinas, but from Tardigrad and their scheming across the City. I had thought Chandra would help him. But apparently, that had not happened.
And now... I realized I had been wrong about everything.
V wasn't safe from any of it.
I had to think fast and act even faster.
"How much like me will the new machina be?" I asked Calypso in a small voice.
I gulped, looking up to her.
There was pity in her eyes.
"She'll be just like you," she answered quietly. "As much as our data allows it. We pull information from all City cameras... How you walk, how you talk, how you structure a sentence... What food you like, the face you make when you enjoy something, what annoys you on the loop. That's as far as it goes."
She hesitated, making a face as if implying they wouldn't know how far it went... behind closed doors.
I nodded slowly, my mind racing, desperate for a plan to keep V safe from Love Machina Inc. and Tardigrad's scheming. But no matter how hard I tried, all I could picture was him with another woman.
Another me.
Warm tears rushed down my cheeks, my chest heaving up and down fast now.
I didn't even notice when Calypso walked around her desk and handed me a tissue.
"T-Thank y-you," I blurted out, patting the soft tissue against my cheeks.
"Sade..."
I looked up to her. Her gaze on me looked pitiful and... conflicted.
"I shouldn't do this..." she murmured, glancing aside. Her fingers fidgeted as she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her bun.
"What?"
"I could offer you something..." she spoke hesitantly. "It's still experimental..."
"What?" I pressed again, wanting her to tell me already.
Whatever she was offering was probably meant to help me, and I was desperate to hear it, struggling to catch my breath through the tears.
"It's a new procedure we've developed," she spoke in a low voice. "I believe you'd be a good patient for it."
The word patient made me flinch. I hadn't heard it used for me in so long.
"With this procedure..." she paused, "you'd be able to forget about him."
🗓️ Next chapters: this Thursday, October 23rd 🗓️
Last last last chapters 🥺❤️
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