She groaned, opening her foggy eyes as she was nudged awake. She saw a large floating sign with the Eve icon passing by.

“We have arrived at our home”. Tom declared, his eyes gleamed as he used his hand to comb his hair.

Her mouth dropped open as her eyes gawked, the home that they were heading to looked less like a house and more as a well-defended fort. She had expected it to be big, but big to her was a great understatement.

The colossus building was composed of five block shaped towers, with the center one being the tallest. Its spotless walls were pristine white, reflecting the surroundings. Various extruding and intruding orange edges ran along its form, as one would expect to see from a sci-fi picture of buildings. Tiny orange rectangles littered the wall, windows, she presumed. Many square pads were set up along its height, ships docked on some of them while gun batteries and cargoes on others.

On a closer inspection, the wall had a few squared frames attached at various places with tiny figures of workers repairing inside. On top of each of the outer four towers, laid a gun battery with long, streamlined and box shaped canons. Thick metal walls ran around the castle with sharp metal blades protruding from numerous places.

Soldiers patrolled the forested grounds, she saw more camouflaged batteries half buried in the ground and under trees, according to the system analysis. Scowling, she looked at the various holes on the ground, some of them had been partially filled, they probably were marks of artillery shells. Am I going home or a battlefield? She sighed in her mind, resisting the urge to facepalm.

Seeing the distressed and overwhelmed Ellowyn, Tom couldn’t hold back his chuckle. “You have the same expression as most other guests that come here for the first time”. He paused, gazing at the window. “For those with power, the rules are different. In the past, all we had to do was paying our congressman to pass impending legislations for our competitors. But now, with the advancement of the technologies of war, the influence goes to whoever has more firepower and tech.

Raids happened from time to time, while it is the offenders that lose more resources in these raids, sometimes they managed to get through and cripple or steal their target’s operations, the benefits outlast the cost in the long run. That is why we have to do it whether we want to, to preserve the status quo”. His eyes turned somber.

“How would the public support such barbaric competitions?”. The gawking Ellowyn almost shouted, her face a look of disbelief.

Tom smiled darkly, his eyebrows knitted together, making him look like a lewd businessman who just swindled big time. “As I said, the technology of war had advanced, much more than our technology to detect and locate. It meant that for small skirmishes between feudal organizations, it is impossible to detect the source of the attacks due to the numerous way one can be concealed from conventional detection tools, I will let you talk with our chief of security if you want to know more.

Nonetheless, to the public, these raids were executed by the media fabricated groups of fanatics and terrorists”. His expression turned calm.

“Though may not be as barbaric as you think, these skirmishes are rather structured and the attackers are almost never human. It is frowned upon to have human casualties, so we always use androids or the newly developed genetic animals”.

She nodded, keeping a poker face, trying not to scowl at his words, and at him. It is the law of the land, and Tom is just abiding by them. She tried to convince herself. She knew how brutal politics can be, and this world had it to the extreme. At least she was glad people don’t usually die in these so-called scuffles, or so she hoped.

Tom stared at her, shivers ran down her spine as his gaze pierced through her. “You are much older than you look, and your knowledge of how the world works is nothing to scoff at, but they seemed to be out of sync somehow”. He contemplated.

She paled, realizing too late that her actions were unsuitable for her age. “I am 18 you know”. She tried to justify herself.

He nodded, closing his eyes before staring back at the window. A long pause ensued before he dropped the critical question that made her froze. “It is true Ellowyn, that you are from another world?”. He said, his tone of affirmation instead of inquiry.

Her face dropped to the ground, closing her eyes, she harshly scolded herself for being overly curious. Her habit of telling the unbelievable truth in the form of sarcasm hadn’t help either. The silence continued as she struggled to regain her composure.

Shrugging helplessly, she already knew the personality that shaped her over her life had made it impossible for her to not be curious, hence this development was inevitable, she would have had to face him sooner or later. She looked back at him, who was still staring out the window, her eyes laced with sadness. “Are you going to -”.

“I will not abandon you, remember? It was your promise to stay in my family, and I too, cherish your being here. The fact that you didn’t leave despite our previous scuffle had shown me how serious you were. I knew you and Alice would get along, when I first saw you, you had the same look in your eyes as Alice’s, only with a little more determination”. He let out a devilish smile.

“And besides, it is much more exciting to have a daughter from another world, I am really hoping to hear the stories of your past”. His tone filled with interest.

She let out a deep sigh, What have I gotten into? She repeated the question with dread.

The limo landed on the highest pad of the center tower, numerous guards ran out from within the gate, they all saluted Tom when he stepped out. forming two parallel lines. Now, all we need is a red carpet. She chuckled inwardly, before widening her eyes as a blue glowing rectangle spread out from the gate and stopping at her feet.

“Ellowyn”. Tom’s gentle reminder broke her dazed state. She realized she had been looking around gawkily, too distracted to notice his outstretched hand. She blushed shamefully before grabbing his hand and trying not to gawk everywhere as he lead her into the gate.

I really need to stop gawking. She chided herself, looking at two lines of people in front, the maids on one side and the butlers the other. The butlers were wearing a modified version of the tuxedo, their black jackets were smaller, only covering the shoulder and upper chest area, various blue edges formed around it symmetrically. Underneath was a black undershirt with more blue lines running around its edge, the pants were the same though.

She chuckled inwardly, they resembled the citizen of a certain movie that she watched, the one with a cyber city and cool light cycles. The maids were more elegant, she thought. They also wore the new style tuxedos, the jacket encompassed the whole body, ending with wavy folds. Instead of pants, they wore short black skirts and their legs were covered with black stockings, everything was laced with blue lines or edges.

Some of them were wearing half-glasses with small glowing patterns which she presumed to be visual guides. They all greeted Tom at the same time, the maids curtsied while the butlers saluted. A butler walked towards Tom.

“Welcome back, sir. Miss Alice is waiting for you in the guest room”. He saluted again before returning to his position.

She raised her eyebrows, they acted more like trained soldiers than housekeepers. The elevator’s design was the same, she was not surprised, though the doors were more stylish, it opened by pulling five layers, one at a time to the side. She gasped, the moment the door had closed, the metallic walls disappeared, leaving behind the scenery around the building, as if everything between the walls of the elevator and the walls of the building had evaporated.

Her head turned back and forth, scanning her surroundings, blue skies and clouds covered what used to be the ceiling, forests extended to the horizon at where the walls were. She reached her hands and felt an invisible barrier. It was a projection, she mused, still impressed by the realism of such projections. The elevator headed downwards shortly before stopping, the metallic walls once again materialized as the door opened. More keepers lined the hallway, a white door with a big fancy decorated Eve icon stood at the end.

She breathed in deeply. This is it. She thought, bracing herself for her first meeting with Alice.

The doors opened, revealing the figure standing inside, Ellowyn stared with widened eyes. It was definitely Alice, with the same face and hair, but she looked nothing like the picture Tom showed her.

“Dad!” Alice broke into a run, hugging him tightly as they made contact. “I missed you,to” She said sulkily.

“It has only been two days, you need to be more patient”. Tom smiled warmly. “This is Ellowyn, your new sister”. His tone awkward as he gently pulled himself out of Alice’s embrace.

Alice slowly readjusted her composure before looking back at Ellowyn with a smile. “It is a pleasure for me to have met you. I am sorry if I might seem rude, but I am not used to talking with new people, even when you are my sister. Please don’t worry, I have no animosity towards you, and I hope that we will get along well”. She said, before promptly giving Ellowyn a hug.

Ellowyn did not fail to notice the sad hint that flashed in Alice’s eyes. She knew that there must have been others in her place, those who hadn’t the courage to stay for long. “You are not alone, I too, am not very comfortablwithnew places and people. But please be reassured that I will not leave you as others had. I just hope that you would treat me well, as I would, you”.

She then tilted her head at Tom, her look inquisitive. “Although there may have been a misunderstanding on my part, you look rather different from the picture that Tom had showed me”. Her amused tone was laced with curiosity.