Tapping the keyboard and saving the monitor’s data to her memory drive, Lilith stretched her back, raising her arms toward the ceiling before massaging her neck and shoulders.
She’d heard larger breasts meant worse shoulder and neck pain, but her small frame made that irrelevant. She’d tried Lyars’ bust-enhancing tips for half a year with no results. Resigning herself to her lack of physical growth, Lilith glanced at Eve, tinkering with Danang’s mechanical arm as he slept soundly, and rubbed her eyes.
“Eve, how’s the work going?” Lilith asked.
“About a third done,” Eve replied.
“Even you’re struggling with it?”
“Well, it’s custom-made… built for no one but him. Normally, anyone else would’ve had their brain fried by rejection.”
“Oh? Who’s ‘him’? Someone you know?”
“No idea.”
Eve sat beside Danang, eyes closed, extending her silver wings. Tiny tools emerged from their tips, piercing the arm’s circuits.
“You don’t know?” Lilith pressed. “But you do, right?”
“I know his face, not his name. Never spoke to him. He just… stared at me and my sister.”
Blue sparks danced as Eve connected circuits and wires, embedding Lilith’s hack program into the arm’s system code, continuing the installation.
“I don’t know what he was thinking or feeling. No one ever understood what went on in his head. He sat in a hard chair, hooked to life support, staring at the culture tank. That much I’m sure of.”
“Is he alive?” Lilith asked.
“He died long ago. Or… he should be dead. No one could survive that chaos.”
“Do you want to see him again?”
“…Who knows?”
Electrons coursed through Eve’s long silver hair, cloaking her in faint silvery particles. Her mystical aura, like a figure from a buried religious painting, and her seated, closed-eyed pose evoked a flawless doll.
She’s beautiful, Lilith thought. She had some confidence in her own looks, priding herself on being cuter than the Pleasure District’s soliciting prostitutes or tainted girls. Walking the streets occasionally, she’d dodged thugs and sweet-talking men—proof of her feminine allure.
But Eve felt… different from ordinary humans. Her profile, poised between girl and woman, her divine silhouette wreathed in electrons and particles, her silver hair like flowing silk—if Lilith were a man, she’d be scheming to make Eve hers.
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“Danang,” Eve said.
“Hm?”
“Does he have… desires?”
“…Who knows?”
“I’ve tried tempting him, you know. Every time, I get a fist to the head. On your way here, did he ever make a move on you?”
“Not at all.”
“…His meals are half-assed, too. Just gel packs and canned food. His money goes to ammo, info fees, and arm maintenance. No record of hitting brothels or pleasure houses. Ten years working together, and I know nothing about his personal life. So, here’s an idea.”
Grinning like a mischievous cat, Lilith tossed Eve a keycard. “Why not live with Danang? That’s his room key.”
“You’re okay with that? Seems more like your thing,” Eve said.
“Nah, this is my place. I can’t imagine living with someone. Eve, you don’t have a home in the undercity, right? That’s dangerous. Murder, theft, rape, human trafficking—it’s all normal here.”
“…The undercity’s security is awful. I’ll take it for now, but it’s up to Danang.”
Smiling softly, Eve touched her lips as Lilith pulled out another spare key. As the two girls shared a laugh, an alarm blared through the room.
“What’s that?” Eve asked.
“…Trouble’s here,” Lilith said. “Wait, the displays—”
The surveillance cameras’ feeds went dark one by one, leaving only the sounds of gunfire and concrete being torn apart. Lilith tapped the keys, pulling up recorded footage, and clicked her tongue as she activated the escape elevator.
“Why are cleaners here…!” she muttered.
“Cleaners?” Eve asked.
“You don’t know? I’ll explain. They’re assassins sent from the upper city to eliminate threats to the tower—people who could destabilize it. I erased my hacking traces, so how—”
A shadow clad in black iron combat exoskeletons moved with unnatural speed, shattering cameras and crushing defense turrets in a single blow. Dodging bullets with precision, it darted across walls like a black beast… a black shadow.
“I’ll fight back,” Lilith said. “Cover me—”
“No,” Eve interrupted. “You can’t win against cleaners. We escape.”
“Lilith,” Danang said, waking and stepping toward the elevator to the surface.
“Danang! What are you—”
“I’ll hold them off. You two get out.”
“No! Cleaners are—”
“Eve.”
“…What?”
“Take care of Lilith. She knows where my place is. If I’m not back in two hours, find Lyars. Got it?”
“I’m coming—”
“Stay.”
In the elevator, Danang deployed his arm’s blade and gripped a combat shotgun in his other hand.
“Lilith can’t fight. She can barely shoot a pistol… so protect her. I won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“But—”
“I’m counting on you.”
The steel doors closed, and Danang ascended. Eve watched him go as Lilith, head bowed, began transferring data to a portable drive and tucked a hidden revolver into her waistband.
“…Let’s go,” Lilith said.
“But Danang—”
“We’re going! If we get to his place, there’s got to be something—something his old man left behind!”
“…”
The usually composed girl was rattled, visibly terrified by the cleaners and desperate to escape the looming danger.
“It’ll be okay,” Eve said.
“What’s okay?!” Lilith snapped.
“He’s got Lumina’s bug.”
“What good is that?! Can it bring back the dead? That’s just empty comfort—”
“Lilith, Danang won’t lose. He won’t die. Trust me. The closer he is to death, the higher Lumina’s sync rate climbs. So, instead of worrying about him, focus on yourself. Though… that’s probably unnecessary.”
“Eve, what are you—”
“It’s fine. I’ll protect you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Gently embracing Lilith, Eve pierced her neck with a silver wing, lulling her into a deep sleep. Tucking the portable drive into her coat, Eve accessed the computer to locate Danang’s home.
“…Danang, how will you wield Lumina?”
Carrying Lilith, she boarded the escape elevator.
