V kissed me.
Right?
Maybe? I thought he did.
Neither of us had planned for it... But somehow, it happened.
Could this be considered a kiss? It felt so short, so fast.
He didn't mention it ever again, and I followed his lead.
When the next Love Machina meeting happened, I had managed to brainwash myself already.
At first, I had wanted to give up on the contract for V's sake. He deserved to have a real Love Machina, one that could help him realize that he was loved and capable of loving too.
But now that the stakes had grown even higher... I couldn't walk away.
What did that make of me?
A selfish person.
I shoved the thought aside, convincing myself there was still a way for me to help him. We had more time now. I was persuaded I could make him see the wonderful person he was.
And in the process, I would clear my debt.
I was excited to see Chaoxing again at the meeting. She would be back from her ski trip with Henry, and I couldn't wait to ask her a thousand questions. I had never seen snow before, and I couldn't even imagine what it felt like to be surrounded by so much of it that you could slide on it!
This time, the meeting was held in a different part of the Agora. I arrived at Feng-Amar station an hour early, eager to explore a new square before heading in.
Each square of the Agora had its own unique architectural design, and I couldn't wait to see what this one held. The moment I stepped out of the station, I was already enchanted by the abundance of flowers and greenery surrounding me.
At the center of the square rose a towering waterfall cascading over a rocky hill. Above it, the bubble glass dome was opened to the sky, letting all the sunlight pour in. A faint breeze picked up, and all the flowers on the hill swayed with it. I held my hair down, feeling a smile stretch across my face.
I checked the time on my tablet. The exploration could begin!
Most visitors walked around the hill, mostly interested in the stores and restaurants down the large hallways. I had noticed citizens wouldn't linger outside for too long at that time of day. V had told me that many feared the sun, which explained why I had most of the parks and gardens to myself at those times.
I didn't fear the sun. To the contrary, I loved it!
My feet followed the narrow path through the flowers on the hill, stopping every time I stumbled across a plant I had never seen before. I would pull out my sketchbook and pen, squatting down on the little wooden fence to sketch it.
I felt like a collector, compiling all the beautiful nature in my sketchbook.
Later, I would try to identify their names thanks to the books at the library.
Following a fresh scent, I came across what I identified later as eucalyptus. I looked around, tempted to pluck a small branch of it, to collect a bit more than just a drawing of it. I had learned that you could let the plants dry between pages of a notebook to conserve them longer.
But from where I stood, visitors down the hill still had a clear view of me. I figured it wasn't the best spot to be sneaky, so I followed the narrow trail further in, closer to the waterfall. From here, even the high floors of stores and restaurants above me couldn't see me.
Out of sight, I quickly plucked a small branch of eucalyptus and tucked it fast between the pages of my notebook.
Just as I closed it, I heard something behind me.
I froze and waited.
It was silent again.
Taking a deep breath, I kept moving, wanting to leave the incriminating scene of cutting plants, which I had no authorization to do. I walked higher on the path, and the vegetation grew thicker along the rocks.
"Callie..."
Again, I stopped.
I wasn't as alone as I thought I was.
My ears wide open, I tried to listen to any voice, but all I could hear was the continuous flow of the waterfall nearby.
I was about to turn around when I heard another voice.
"Kira... I can't. I'm sorry."
Again, I stopped in my tracks and held my breath.
Kira?
The elusive silhouette of the redhead disappearing through the crowd at Malik's dinner flashed through my mind.
"If we leave now, we'd make it out before midnight."
Kira's voice again.
She sounded urgent, pleading almost.
I pressed myself against the rocky wall. The two women's voices must have been right behind it.
A part of me knew I should have left. That was clearly a private conversation. But another part was too curious to seize the chance to understand what Kira was up to.
"You were never thought to be here in the first place..." the other woman spoke in a desperate voice.
"I know," Kira replied.
"I hate Vince so much," the other continued. "He did this to trap me. He knew I'd never back out if you were involved."
Kira didn't respond.
"We can leave," she finally said, her voice a softer tone I had never heard before. "Right now. We can go."
"And then what?" The other woman's tone was bitter. "The Port of Entry flagged me last time. I spent a day locked in, scanned in every orifice. They only let me go because I needed medical help. I will keep on raising suspicion if I keep leaving and coming back."
There was a long pause.
The other woman's voice felt strangely familiar, but I just couldn't place it yet.
"You could stay with us this time," Kira answered in an even weaker voice.
"Kira..." the other sighed in a way that showed they had had this conversation a hundred times already.
"We could heal you."
There was another long silence.
"Callie, please-"
"I can't abandon the others."
"What? You never cared before!"
"I care now."
Again, it did feel like a quarrel they had rehearsed.
"All of this would be for nothing... If we give up now."
"All of this...?"
I heard Kira's voice break in a sob.
I leaned slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of them. One careful step, and I spotted the glint of her red hair through a break in the rocks.
"I'm the one getting beaten," she said. "Every day."
My eyes widened as I saw these words tumble out of her mouth. Her intense stare faced her companion directly, pain written all over her face. The other woman's back was to me, her blond hair pulled into a tight ponytail.
"You think I want this?" The woman grabbed Kira's arms. "I'd trade everything to switch places with you. Everything."
Her voice trembled too.
"Callie—"
Tears appeared in Kira's eyes, and she looked down, seeming defeated.
The blonde woman got her hands around Kira's face and pushed her lips against hers.
They kissed!
I gasped and stumbled back. My heel struck a rock, and a puff of dirt cascaded down my side.
Behind the wall, I heard their surprise and the sound of their fleeing steps.
When I turned back to the small opening, they were already gone.
What had just happened?
I ran back down, squeezing my sketchbook tight against my chest.
Kira had a girlfriend in the City?
And she wanted to flee with her?
Then, I remembered everything else.
Kira's turtleneck. The wide coats she wore at the meeting. Her big scarf at Chaoxing's.
Kira was being abused.
Probably by her owner?
What I saw on her face at Chaoxing's home was probably a bruise.
Poor Kira.
It would make sense that she would want to flee.
But who was that other woman? Someone she met here?
In any case, her lover didn't seem willing to follow her out.
As soon as I reached the end of the trail, back to the Feng-Amar square, someone called my name.
I startled, thinking I had done something wrong again.
It was Firinne. She was huffing and puffing, as if she had just run too.
"Are you feeling alright?" She frowned a little, and I guessed my frightened look from earlier had followed me all the way down the trail.
I greeted her back, as normally as I could, even though I felt so troubled by the scene I had just witnessed.
Firinne kept on chatting on the way to the meeting. I answered absentmindedly, my mind racing with the private conversation I had just heard. She was curious to see my sketches, and again, I just handed the sketchbook to her without thinking.
As soon as we arrived at the meeting, I checked if Kira was there already. Indeed, she was, and as usual, she held a scarf around her neck, looking down at the tea she had ordered.
I tried and failed to make eye contact with her, wanting to check if she knew I had been spying on her... Unwillingly.
In any case, I wanted to talk to her at the end of the meeting.
If she were getting beaten by her owner, I wanted to help. I didn't know how yet, but I knew I couldn't just ignore it.
There had to be rules against it. Machinas were so close to humans themselves... It had to be against the rules.
Chaoxing wasn't here yet.
"Good afternoon, everyone!"
I immediately turned my face to the new voice. It was Calypso, our coordinator.
"Let's order our drinks while we wait for the missing ones."
She smiled at me and took the seat at the head of the table.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Chaoxing appeared by my side, quickly pulling the seat next to mine.
I barely paid attention to her.
My eyes were fixed on our coordinator.
"Today has been so very insane!" Chaoxing continued next to me.
At the end of the table, I observed Calypso tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, chatting with a machina by her side.
"The power was out in our house!"
Her blond hair shone under the light, carefully held in a low ponytail.
"It happened during our ski trip... Insane!" Chaoxing kept on conversing, and I finally turned to her. "They had no idea where it came from. It doesn't make sense! Most of the tech had to be restarted! We couldn't order food or even just put music on!"
I stiffened.
And turned to Firinne next to me.
Her piercing green eyes were already on me.
I turned to look at Kira. She also looked at me.
Under the table, I felt Firinne's hand come around mine on my lap.
"Let's talk after the meeting," she said, giving me one of her charming smiles, while her hand squeezed hard around my fingers. "Okay?" she pressed harder, still smiling.
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