"So? How was it?"
"Better than I expected."
In the back seat, Julius turned to the window. Parents and their children walked out of the auditorium. His eyes found Isolde and Anneliese heading toward their car.
"…."
Then his eyes narrowed. Two men were clearly following them at a careful distance.
"But it seems there are still obstacles in the way."
Gabriel, in the front seat, followed his line of sight. "…What are you getting yourself into this time?"
"I wonder… I'm new to this as well."
"….?"
Knowing the future did not guarantee a clear path. A second chance did not promise absolution. There was a reason people said 'third time's a charm.'
Because even a second chance might not be enough.
"Follow them, Gabriel."
"Yes."
Save one person and you might doom ten. Save ten, and you might doom one who mattered more than the ten combined. You could see the shape of disasters and still be forced to pick the angle of impact.
So the ever-imperfect Julius chose to seize whatever he could.
And if he made a mistake, he would make sure it was smaller than the pile he had left behind in his previous life.
Julius and Gabriel tailed the two men. They entered a gray sedan and, just as Julius suspected, they followed the mother and child.
"Aren't you going to explain?" Gabriel asked. "Why are they being followed? Who is this Doctor Isolde you are suddenly interested in?"
"You sure are curious, aren't you, Gabriel?"
"Just so I could judge you better."
"Uh-huh." Julius scoffed, then shook his head. "Let's just say she'll be one of the pillars for the faction I'm about to build."
"Is that so?" Gabriel smiled. "Then I guess this means you're officially competing with your brother?"
"Ever since he's tried to meddle in my affairs with the Vergissmeinnicht line, I've already considered him an enemy."
Gabriel said nothing. It was true. Branded incompetent, Julius had been pushed to the sidelines while the Vergissmeinnicht negotiations were handed to Jeremy.
The family treated Julius's engagement to Aiseline as a convenient lever to swallow the merchant line. They let him play the lovesick fool while the heir managed the real business.
"Still heartbroken?" Gabriel asked.
"Not really."
He was a Schneider, born to one of the leading families in the magi-tech world, with wealth deep enough to drown in.
There was nothing he could not obtain.
If he did not have it, it meant he did not want it.
* * *
"Did you have fun, Anne?"
"Yes! Hehe~ I love you, Mommy!"
"I love you too," Isolde said, fastening Anneliese's seatbelt and checking the mirrors.
Anne wriggled in her booster. The paper crown on her head slipped over one eye. She pushed it back into place and kicked her feet lightly against the seat.
"Can we play the song again?"
"Once on the way home," Isolde said. "Then bath and bed."
"Okay!"
Anne hummed the melody while Isolde reached for the console and started the recording from the recital. The car eased out of the space and rolled toward the exit.
"Hm~ Hmm~"
"You really liked the song, didn't you?"
"Yes! Hehe~ Teacher said I sounded really good!"
Isolde smiled, eyes on the road. "She was right."
Anne wiggled in her seat. "I practiced lots. I counted in my head like mommy taught me."
After a moment, they pulled into the lot and stopped by their building. A group of men were standing near the stairwell outside their unit. Isolde narrowed her eyes, then reached to raise the music's volume until the choir filled the car.
"Anne, stay here for a moment," she said with a smile. "Mommy will be right back."
"Okay!"
Isolde stepped out of the car. She kept her shoulders relaxed and her keys in her hand. The men watched her approach. One tried a friendly grin.
"Evening, Doctor," he said. "A quick word."
"Who are you people?"
The tallest man took off his hat. "Jewel Electricals. Once more, Doctor, we insist you sell SIBYL to us."
"I thought my answer was clear last time," Isolde replied. "I don't intend on selling SIBYL to you, or to anyone. Now, please leave. I have a child in the car."
They glanced at the sedan. A small face peered from the rear window before sinking back down. Isolde's grip on her keys trembled.
"You make this difficult, Doctor," the tall one said. "I don't even know what your tech does, but the boss wants it. And he wants it bad."
"And my answer is no. Now, please leave. I've had a long day, and you're in my way."
The next moment, a car rolled to a stop behind them. Headlights washed across the street. The new car stopped close to Isolde's bumper. The men in front of her traded looks and let the sneer show.
"Don't you understand, Doctor?" The tall one tipped his chin at the car behind her. "We're here because our boss refuses your refusal."
Two men stepped out of the car and took position behind Isolde's car. They remained standing where Anneliese could see them if she looked up.
The message was plain as day.
"Now, while we're being nice," the tall one said. "Won't you sell SIBYL to us?"
He held out the contract. Isolde had already read through its contents before. It demanded full rights to SIBYL and every derivative.
Perhaps it had to be said, but Jewel Electricals worked in the military space. Buying SIBYL meant turning it into a weapon. That alone was the line Isolde would never cross.
Isolde bit her lip. "…Please."
Refusal had never been a choice. Between her project and her daughter, it didn't need to be weighed.
She did not know what the future held for SIBYL, but she knew its potential. Today, it was an AI scaffold that assisted Anne's cognition and eased the noise that came with ASD.
Tomorrow it could grow into something larger. She had once dreamed it would be a crutch for children like her daughter. Not a tool to aim and fire.
——Oh, doctor? I thought we had an agreement? Are you going behind our back, now?
A hand suddenly gripped the tall man's wrist. The contract slipped and fell on the pavement. A man with hazel brown hair and clear blue eyes appeared out of nowhere.
"Wow, you're so cool, Gabriel," Julius said, clapping his hands and slowly approaching them.
Isolde's focus turned to the car. For a heartbeat, she feared the men had done something to Anneliese.
"Anne—"
However, what she saw left her completely speechless. The men who had grouped up around her bumper were already on the ground. One clutched his ribs. Another groaned and tried to crawl.
"So?" Julius tipped his hat, his crimson eyes gleaming under the brim. His smile was kind, but his eyes were not. "Who are you people supposed to be?"
———!
The nearest thug lunged toward him. Julius brushed the punch aside and caught the man's face in one hand. With the other hand, he took a card from the man's pocket and glanced at it.
"Oh. Jewel Electricals."
A thin sneer touched his mouth.
"You people should go home."
He drove his boot up. The man folded and hit the asphalt. Another attacker rushed him. Julius stepped into the strike and cut it off at the shoulder.
On the other side Gabriel moved through three men like a tide. One hit the hood and slid off. Another found the curb with his back and stayed there. Gabriel pinned the third to the street with a heel on the temple.
"You'll regret this!" the man spat.
"Wow, that's a really corny line, old man." Gabriel pressed down harder, his eyes narrowing in disgust. "No one speaks like that anymore. Can't you think of something better?"
"E-Excuse me." Isolde's voice found itself again. She faced Gabriel with both hands tight on the keys. "What exactly is happening?"
"Oh." Gabriel bowed his head.
Isolde, startled by the sudden formality, dipped hers in return before she could stop herself.
"The Young Master holds you in high regard," Gabriel said. "That is all you need to know."
"F-Favorably…?"
They turned toward Julius.
"Kekeke! I haven't felt this way in so long! Damned third-rate lackeys!"
"…."
"…."
Isolde couldn't tell which one was the thug anymore.