Noree had only been awake for a couple hours. She sat in her lab, staring blankly at one of her terminals. For once, her research wasn’t on her mind. The phoenix Mira, was prominently in her thoughts. She had taken Mira in after the travesty with Luca.

Outside her lab, was a small lobby room. There was a side-door which led to a small hallway with several doors. One door led to her bedroom, another led to a guest room which she occasionally used for test subjects when she was researching or doing contract work which required live specimens, such as people. All the guest rooms were vacant, so she let Mira set herself up in one. She hadn’t given Mira a time frame for how long she could stay. She didn’t wish to burden the phoenix with that.

A phoenix’s work was very important, but Noree had set her life towards the pursuit of knowledge and the sciences that many of the other species had learned, in the hopes that she could accomplish even greater works for the benefit of all the races. Such endeavors often involved anti-demon research.

Despite her willingness to help Mira, Noree was still apprehensive of having a being with the potential of the sun in the same building as her. Plants and fire didn’t get along well.

Mira had left the compound about an hour ago. Noree did nothing to stop her as it made sense for Mira to get out. She surely needed to keep her mind focused on the task at hand and not dwell on the passing of her friend.

Phoenixes were similar to demons in regards to being able to possess a living entity. From what Noree could glean, if a phoenix was killed, their consciousness was left adrift until it managed to find a new host. When it did, that person would gain the powers of the phoenix and their mind would merge with the consciousness of the phoenix. The phoenix would gain the host’s thoughts and fragments of their personality, gradually changing with each new host.

None of this was proven. Phoenixes never willingly divulged such facets to the public. With good reasoning as well. They were self-proclaimed demon annihilators. It was their sole reason for existing, or so they said.

Noree wondered how new hosts were chosen. Could a phoenix merge with anyone they wanted and were they aware of who they were possessing? Were there requirements for a new host? Was it entirely random? A phoenix had never answered such questions and she doubted Mira would be forthcoming.

Noree rolled her chair closer to one of the data-terminals in her lab. She accessed the screen and pulled up an overview for a scanner she had analyzing the sample she had taken from the deceased Luca. Much to Noree’s dismay, anything involving demons didn’t always amount to an exact science. Scanning the sample from Luca and trying to narrow down the origins of the demon from its blood was...a slow process. She had developed the program herself and what it amounted to was a seemingly endless list of checks and balances in regards to determining any useful information about the blood. Hopefully she would gain what she’d need to run a city-wide sweep for the demon. Unfortunately, city-wide sweeps weren’t particularly legal under Malstyx law—outside the proper departments.

Which reminded her. “Persephone, are you here?” Noree called. Her purple eyes scanned her immediate surroundings. It was hard to keep track of Persephone when she was so silent. Noree caught sight of a purple gelatinous goo pouring from an above air-vent in the ceiling. The purple slime began to congeal and take the form of a humanoid figure. Seconds later, the body was completely formed from the goo and a pair of eyes looked back at Noree.

“Yes Noree?” The gel-like entity asked. Her voice sounded as if she was speaking under water.

“Did you notice we have a guest now? I didn’t get a chance to tell you,” said Noree.

Persephone nodded as she sat against Noree’s terminal. “The human with an unusually high temperature,” she said.

“She’s a phoenix,” said Noree. “You should keep your distance from her for now. There are many who believe that claymores such as yourself were the product of demonic machinations, especially after the incident on the verean colony I told you about. I haven’t had a chance to question her about her thoughts on claymores and with all she’s been through...I don’t want to burden her. In the meantime, I’ll be sending you off with those mercenaries you’ve been spending time with. They could greatly use your help again today.”

“I enjoy being on their ship,” she said. “They take me all around First City. It’s very exciting.”

Noree’s lips curled into a smile. “Just make sure you continue to listen to Scotia and do as you're asked. She won’t force you to do anything you don’t want.”

Persephone smiled. “I will remember.”

A chime sounded from Noree’s data-band. It was the notifier she’d setup to alert her if anyone was at the door. She only received the notification after her guests had been scanned. She placed a finger to the data-band to interact with the lab’s AI systems.

“A Saris and a Marcus are here to see you, Noree,” said the AI, the digitized voice coming from her data-band.

“Invite them in, open the lobby,” Noree replied, giving the AI instructions to carry out. She stood and looked to Persephone. “You should make yourself scarce. No reason to be seen by people who don’t need to know you’re here.” Even though Noree trusted Saris and Marcus, she felt that they didn’t need to be aware of everything that happened in her lab.

Persephone morphed into a liquid state as her form moved upwards, stretching out until she reached a grate above and disappeared into the ventilation system. Noree left the lab portion of the room and passed through a doorway into the lobby area. Just as she did, a pair of men came through the hallway entrance, into the lobby. Noree slid her hands into her labcoat pockets and looked between the two. Saris the verean and Marcus the human. They had helped her out a number of times in all manner of jobs where their expertise would be useful.

“Hello Noree,” said Marcus.

“Hey Noree,” said Saris.

She gave them a brief nod in greeting. “You didn’t comm me to let me know you were stopping by, what do I owe this visit?” She asked in her usual business-like voice. She immediately took notice of Marcus carrying a black cube in his hand.

“What is that?” she asked, before Marcus had a chance to explain.

“It’s why we’re here,” said Marcus. He slid back the top of the cube and handed it to her.

Noree accepted the cube and looked inside.

“It’s not going to explode if I touch it...is it?” she asked as she observed a vial with some sort of blue liquid, sitting within the security cube.

“We were hoping you could tell us,” said Saris.

Noree glanced at Saris before turning and heading towards her lab. “Come with me, I’ll need to analyze it. Hopefully you didn’t bring some sort of virus into my lab, or something that’s intended to detonate.” Noree motioned for the two of them to follow her, she opened the lab door and ushered them in before following. She immediately headed towards one of the smaller machines located near her desk. She slid the vial from the security cube and placed it in an enclosure on the machine. She pressed a button, and the machine closed around the vial.

“Now to see what you’ve brought me, hopefully analyzing it won’t trigger it,” she said in a less than enthused tone.

“Why are you so sure that we brought you something terrible?” asked Marcus. “I mean, I can understand if Saris came by himself, but my presence should alleviate a little concern, right? It’s as if you don’t trust me any more than you do him.”

“I don’t trust either of you more than the other,” she stated as she tapped her data-band and brought up a holo display. She pressed buttons on the display as she initiated various scans on the liquid sample. The machine which held the liquid made an audible hum. She then watched as information poured down the side of the display, indicating the composition of the liquid material.

“Noree really knows how to wound a person, doesn’t she?” Saris said to Marcus, as if Noree wasn’t within earshot.

Noree’s focused on the data she was seeing. “This compound—” she said, trailing off as she continued to read. Her hand came up to swipe her fingers through the air as she scrolled back through the data, re-reading what the analyzer was displaying about the liquid.

The hum from the analyzer faded as it fully completed the scans Noree had assigned it.

“What is it?” asked Marcus.

“My expertise deals mostly with biotechnologies and medicine, but this substance seems to act similarly to the gates.”

“Gates?” asked Marcus. “I honestly don’t know gate-science...so...to those of us who are not scientists, what is it?”

Noree stared at the information for a few more moments before turning around. She swiped her finger which caused the screen to dissipate. “The simplest I can explain this, is that these particles which the liquid is comprised of, are able to cause an effect on...hmm...what words do I want here...spatially distorted phenomena.”

“So...that means?” Saris prompted.

Noree brought a hand up to rest on her head, still pondering the implications. She knew what the liquid was capable of, but why would anyone create something that could—

Her eyes widened. “Demons.”

“What do you mean, demons?” asked Saris. “What’s the blue stuff have to do with them? Does it explain why a sludge-glutton abducted a girl who was carrying this stuff?”

Noree looked between the two of them. “Where did you get this? What girl?”

“There was this girl who we were supposed to meet,” said Marcus. “She was going to hand us this item, so that we could discover who killed her boyfriend or whatever. Her boyfriend obtained that vial somehow but we couldn’t find anything on why he had it or where he’d picked it up. There was no employment history for the past six months. Now, can you please explain?”

Noree stared off at a nearby wall of the lab. “This substance seems to work off the principle of sinphoria, where sin in our universe affects other dimensions, such as hell. Sinphoria also explains the connection between dimensions. For instance, pretend a demon in hell is using a device like a terminal and he’s able to create an avatar of himself in our universe. We don’t yet know how they do it, or how they enter our world, but that’s the gist of what they’re actually doing to get here. At least, as far as I can hypothesize. Their avatar is an extension of themselves, meaning there’s actually a link that’s transcending dimensions to connect with the actual demon in hell. That link is part of the sinphoria theory. Following so far?” she asked and looked back and forth between them.

“Right, demons exist in hell and can project a portion of themselves into our world, that’s the portion of the demon we’re able to see,” said Marcus. “That’s what Saris and I have been dealing with for years.”

“Correct, but think of a demon in hell as the bottom of a string. Now, think of the projected demon we see in our universe as the top of the string. If you set flame to the top of the string, it burns the whole way down until it’s entirely consumed. On contact, this substance would be able to create a destructive feedback that will follow the link through dimensions and actually damage, even kill the demon in hell.”

Saris crossed his arms and stared at the floor.

Marcus furrowed his brow and rested his hands on his hips. “Can we weaponize this? maybe even coat a bullet in them?”

“Anti-demon bullets. Being able to actually kill them permanently is a game changer. Not even phoenixes can do that,” Saris murmured.

Noree thought about Mira and then let the notion pass as she looked over to a machine in her lab. “I could extract the liquid and coat some ammunition with it. The coating would be rather thin, but it wouldn’t be a matter of quantity of the particles, just that it’s enough to coat the entire projectile. Each particle that moves through a demon, would cause feedback towards their real body—if they even have real bodies, in the dimension we call hell.”

“So, these bullets wouldn’t actually help us do anything we aren’t already doing, as far as inflicting physical harm...but they’d eliminate the demon in hell, whereas right now they eventually find the means to come back?” Marcus asked, a bit skeptical of the entire situation.

Noree shrugged. “That’s my best guess, given the nature of what these particles are. I can only imagine that a well-funded lab had to be responsible for its manufacture. Something in the private sector, kept off the books.”

“Perhaps one of the clans,” said Saris.

“Or any corporation with money to burn,” Marcus countered.

“It’d be impossible to guess,” said Noree ”I’m sure that whoever was working on it, wants it back. Our lives would be meaningless towards retrieving this item. I’m half tempted to make you take it away. I’m not fond of the idea of my lab being destroyed and me along with it. In fact, how about—”

In the blink of an eye, Saris un-holstered his weapon and aimed it up at the ceiling. The firearm was already humming with electric potential.

Noree’s eyes widened, she looked up to the ceiling and quickly raised her hands as she moved towards Saris. “No don’t!” she gasped

“Damn,” he grunted, his weapon trained on the entity. Persphone’s liquid form flowed towards the floor from the air duct.

Noree was in a panic, looking between the still-armed Saris and then to Persephone. “She won’t hurt you, she’s friendly I swear it,” she spoke quickly to the tense verean.

“Tch,” Saris trained his firearm away from the congealing purple mass.

Noree stepped to Persephone’s side, her eyes cautiously remained on Saris. “She’s not hostile like you know claymores to be,” Noree said, before narrowing her eyes a bit at him. Her face lessened in intensity a few moments later as she asked “Why didn’t you already fire? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you didn’t...but your training would’ve driven you to shoot her.”

“Her?” asked Marcus, who was rather bewildered at what was happening.

Saris flicked the electrifier off his weapon and holstered it. He crossed his arms, still a bit agitated as his fingers clung beneath his shoulders. His eyes were narrowed at Persephone. “I didn’t fire, because vereans don’t get the drop on claymores, hardly ever. If that creature wanted me dead, or any of you, she’d have already killed us. So I figured, the split second before I fired, that she had something to do with you. What is she to you? Some sort of bodyguard?” he asked with distaste seeping from his voice.

“You need to keep your curiosity in check,” Noree chided the claymore.

“They seemed friendly enough, I wanted to test the verean’s reactions at the sight of me,” she said with that somewhat aquatic voice. “He is quicker than I expected!” she looked to Saris again and lifted her hand, making a little wave. “Bye bye.” With that, Persephone congealed down into a blob and slid over into a grate in the floor. All three of them watched Persephone melt back into the ventilation.

“I hate those things,” Saris grumbled. “Even if they’re not trying to kill me. Actually, that’s the first one I’ve seen that wasn’t on Torima.”

“Now I’m a bit lost,” said Marcus. “What’s Torima?”

Saris kept silent for a long moment. Noree looked to him and lifted a brow. Saris’s lips twitched a little as he shook his head and looked away.

“I’m surprised you haven’t talked to him about Torima,” said Noree. “I didn’t think you’d hide that part of your history.”

“Wait, Noree knows about this and I don’t?” Marcus said, obviously a little hurt at the prospect.

Saris waved his hand dismissively. “Torima is common knowledge. At least it was fifty years ago. So I guess you weren’t born yet. Anyway, it was a verean colony. Long story short, one of the asteroids came loose from the claymore fields and landed near the colony. It was a massacre. First the population of Torima and then for those who tried to exterminate the claymore infestation.”

Marcus looked at Noree, who remained silent.

“I was one of the early soldiers in the campaign to retake and clear Torima,” said Saris. “I was there from beginning to end. We were supposed to exterminate the claymores so that we could rebuild the colony. Instead, it seemed that all I did was watch a lot of my comrades die. My survival in the campaign led to my acceptance in the special forces. Which in turn, led me to become an operative under your command in the ADA.”

Marcus slid his thumbs into his pockets and looked to the floor.

Noree kept quiet for several seconds. She had read-up on Saris’s background when she first met him and Marcus. Not that his background was public information, but she had her ways.

“That reminds me. I wanted to thank you for the information about Ero,” said Noree, breaking the awkward silence for the two.

Marcus looked to her “Did it help? Anything come of it?” he asked.

Noree shook her head. “No, the person I handed the information to wasn’t able to learn anything from the location. It was a dead end. The warehouse had been cleaned out.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” said Marcus. “It was the best intel we could come up with, given the nature of what you provided.”

“I’ve been running a city-wide trace on some demon blood, which was acquired from a freshly deceased victim.” said Noree.

“You’re using the demon-tracer program I gave you?” asked Marcus. “It’s what we had to resort to in the agency. Slow process, but it gets results. Unfortunately, if you’re using the agency's system...those scanner’s aren’t being maintained. I bet half of them are inoperable.”

Noree looked over to the machine which was actively analyzing the demon blood samples she’d taken the other day. She had hope that something new would come up. Perhaps a better genetic marker, anything she could use to narrow down her searches, or something to extend her search capabilities.

“For now, it will have to do,” she said.

“So, what are we going to do about that blue stuff?” asked Saris.

“I hate to say it, but maybe it’ll be safest if you leave it with me,” said Noree. “See if you can find out anything about it…you’re good at investigation, right? Try and track down where it came from. I’ll analyze the information I pulled and see if I can weaponize it for you. Won’t happen overnight, I need to make sure it doesn’t have volatile reactions. So, I’ll let you know what I come up with. Don’t tell anyone you brought it here and don’t tell anyone about Persephone,” she said and tossed Saris a pointed look.

“Sure thing,” said Marcus.

“Fine...fine,” Saris grumbled.

Marcus motioned to Saris and the two men turned and headed for the door. Marcus held up his hand in a wave. “See ya Noree, thanks again,” he said as they made their way out of the lab.

With their departure, Noree was left alone in the lab once again. Except for wherever Persephone currently was. She looked around her lab. She thought of all the possibilities that the blue particles could be utilized for. It seemed as though the particles were manufactured specifically to deal with demons. It was certainly the biggest breakthrough in anti-demon warfare she’d ever heard of. If it could be mass produced, demons could be potentially eliminated forever, or at least deterred from entering this dimension, since their very existence could now be threatened. She wondered if the liquid could line buildings and starships. She had more research to do on it, as there were many factors to consider. The substance might be volatile under certain conditions, or even break down under others. Only time and numerous experiments would tell.

Noree decided to inform Mira about this discovery. Surely the phoenix had her own ways of dealing with demons, but a phoenix’s fire couldn’t harm demons in hell, like this substance seemed capable of doing. Noree reached to activate her data-band. She selected the contact ID for Mira, but before her finger could press the communication icon, her hand froze.

The particles...they were able to follow the connection through dimensions back to the demon in hell. But the implications of that, didn’t have to be simply cross-dimensional. What if the consciousness of the entity possessing a person, was in the same dimension? Perhaps at the center of a sun?

Noree had no idea where phoenix consciousness originated. Phoenixes claimed to be born of the sun, so wouldn’t their conscious be connected to it? If this substance was used on a phoenix, what implications would that have? Could it kill a phoenix forever, as she speculated it would for a demon? If so, would it create an anomaly within the sun itself? What untold consequences would come of such an interaction?

Noree found the closest chair and slumped into it. She stared through the image. Should she tell Mira about this substance? Theoretically, it could kill the phoenix forever, not just her host body. If she told Mira about it, would the phoenix come and take it away? or destroy it? The vial that Noree had might be the only one in existence, if it was lost...could it ever be replicated?

The decision weighed heavily upon Noree. Perhaps for now, Mira should be kept in the dark.

***

Mira hadn’t been content to sit around Noree’s lab. When morning came, she’d gotten dressed and headed out. There was no rush, so she took the streets on foot instead of signaling a transport. The walk would do her some good. She missed the sunny days of other worlds. Here on Malstyx, the weather was almost always dreary. She hadn’t glimpsed the sun since she was in orbit.

On her way through the teeming metropolis, she passed the usual protesters she’d seen ever since her arrival. A local company was weaving DNA; giving humans the opportunity to take on the characteristics of animals. Mira had already seen the occasional ‘gene-weaved’ human around. Ears and tails of various types, seemed to be the most prominent alterations. The populace had already given them the title of ‘sphinxes,’ named after Sphinx Corp—the company selling the gene therapy. She wasn’t sure how it all worked. She’d have to ask Noree about it the next time she saw the dryte woman.

Mira hailed a transport and headed into the industrial sector, district nine. If she had nothing better to do, now was a good chance to question the demon she’d found in the dungeon.

***

Mira stood over a hole, behind the warehouse she’d visited two days before. A hole she’d deliberately covered to conceal what she’d found deep underground. She hadn’t hidden it as well as she’d thought. Unless someone had observed her actions when she was here before. She had already checked underground and confirmed that the demon known as Bel, was gone. Bel’s shackles had been broken and two sets of footprints had been left in the dust of the dungeon.

Mira had returned to the empty warehouse in hopes of questioning the demon. A demon who’d been locked away for over a thousand years. But now she was free and Mira had no idea where the demon went or who had taken her. Had she unwittingly unleashed a new terror on the city? Her fists clenched at the very notion.

The data-band on Mira’s wrist began to vibrate in short intervals. She tapped the band and a display formed over her arm. She noticed who the call was coming from and accepted it immediately. A face appeared. A man with black hair with graying edges.

Mira lifted a brow at the sight of the man. “There’s only one reason you have to be contacting me, Jonas,” she said with narrowing eyes. “Please tell me he’s not here.” She hadn’t even given him a moment to say hello.

Jonas blinked and took in deep breath as his eyes focused on Mira’s. “If by ‘he’ you mean that vessel you warned me about. Then yes, that person is here,” said Jonas.

Mira’s fists clenched. She lowered her arms to her hips, which made the display follow her arm. She stared up into the dismal sky.

“Are you still there, Mira?” asked Jonas. “I’m still tracking the ship. Do you want me to forward you its location as I track it?”

Mira took a moment to compose her thoughts before holding her arm back up and looking to the display. “Yes, track it, along with any shuttles that depart from it. I...wouldn’t suppose I could ask you to shoot it down for me?” Mira asked, as the corner of her lips curled.

Jonas’s eyebrows lifted as he wasn’t sure what to say, until he saw Mira smirk. “I’m hoping that grin means you’re not serious,” he said.

Mira shrugged. “I was just hoping you’d save me a lot of headache,” she said.

Jonas was silent as he looked away offscreen, before focusing back to her. “Would it save your life?” he asked.

Mira tilted her head, looking at him with a curious expression. “No, the circumstances of his arrival shouldn’t be that dire. But if it turns out that I’m wrong...I’ll handle it. No need for you to intervene with this. You’ve helped me a great deal already, for bringing me here safely.”

Jonas nodded. “Then I’ll relay the tracking to you.” He went silent for a long moment, before inquiring, “Mira...who's on that ship?”

Mira shook her head. “No need to concern yourself with that. I’d rather not speak his name on comms, in case he’s already listening in on all communications, scanning for mentions of his name.” she said.

Jonas gave her a strange look. “But this comm is secure, I’m routing through-”

“It’s not enough,” Mira interrupted him. Her eyes narrowed subtly. “Trust me.”

Jonas didn’t continue his line of inquiry, he simply nodded. “I do. I-” Jonas’s words trailed as his eyes seemed to focus on something off-screen. “Mira, it looks like a shuttle just left that cruiser.”

Mira’s eyes widened. “Damnit, already?” she asked. “Forward me its coordinates immediately!”

Without further words, Jonas gave a single nod. A moment later, Jonas cut the transmission from his side. Leaving Mira staring at a blank display until a notification came up. She accepted it with a tap, and then watched as an overlay of Malstyx appeared.

Above the planet, was a single sphere, representing the ship in question. But between the planet and the sphere, was a small dot, representing the shuttle.

“System, analyze trajectory on the shuttle, what’s the coordinates of its destination?”

Mira waited as she watched a little loading icon on the display, as her data-band made the proper calculations. Then, a digital voice emanated from the data-band. “Exact destination, currently indeterminable. The shuttle is headed in the general vicinity of district one.”

“System, continue to analyze trajectory until you’re certain of the shuttle’s destination.” Mira quickly tapped an icon on the display, and hailed a transport, placing district one as her intended destination. But after she made the request, she saw an error notification on her display. ‘Error: Transportation request system, currently under maintenance.’

“Like hell it is,” she scoffed. Mira glanced around to get her bearings, and started running towards district one.

The city was vast, and even after ten minutes of running, Mira still hadn’t reached district one’s border.

Mira’s data-band chimed. “Destination determined. Destination of shuttle, street twelve.”

Mira continued to run down the streets. She could see the gate to district one a few blocks away. “System,” she said. “What’s on street twelve?”

“Listed businesses on street twelve, are: Club Newland, District One Restaurant—”

“System!” Mira gasped. “Exclude restaurants and groceries.”

The voice paused just a moment. “District One Pawn and Bounties, First District Bank, Tarmin’s Arm—”

“System, stop,” Mira said as she came to a stop herself. Her chest rose and fell as she stared off at the gates to district one. “No, he can’t be,” she whispered. Mira hadn’t even recalled the street until her data-band spoke of the bank. The bank she’d been at two days ago.

Mira’s hands trembled, before she tightened them back into fists. “He knows...he knows I was there. But, why is he going there?”

“System, hail transport,” she said.

“Error: Transportation request system, currently under maintenance.”

Mira began running again. Surely this was just coincidence? Or did he bring down the entire transport system, just to keep her from beating him to the bank? She knew she was going to be too late.

***

It was another half hour of running, before Mira made it to street twelve. She turned the corner and ran down the street, heading past people...people, who were staring up at something.

Mira glanced around. Her eyes followed what everyone was looking at. Up in the towering building, a fire billowed smoke from one of the uppermost rooms. At the middle of the structure, was a sign in big letters, which read ‘First District Bank.’

Mira approached the bank’s steps at a slow pace. She kept her eyes on the structure and counted the floors. When she counted the one billowing fire, her heart skipped a beat. The fire seemed to be contained to a single room. But it was located on the same floor as Vanessa’s office.

She looked to the doors which led inside the bank. Should she go in? Was he still in there? She reached over and tapped her data-band, in order to check the location of the shuttle. But movement at the doors caught her eye.

A man walked out of the bank. He had red swept-back hair and a fine black suit with red trim. Mira froze. The man glanced around. His eyes went from person to person in the crowd nearby. Everyone was looking up at the fire, or talking amongst themselves. Everyone except Mira, who was staring directly at the red-haired man leaving the bank.

It was in that moment, that she realized her mistake. But it was too late. It was a moment too long. The man’s crimson eyes found hers.

The man walked casually towards her. She knew there was no use in diverting her gaze. She’d already made the mistake of looking at him, of taking notice of him. He walked up to her, and a smile adorned his lips.

In the blink of an eye, his eyes became burning embers.

Mira inhaled sharply, as she was now on the receiving end of the burning gaze. A single blink and then her eyes resembled the man’s.

“Mira...Mira...Mira,” he said in a soft voice.

She swallowed as her burning eyes stared into his.

“Cursa,” she said.

Cursa blinked once more and his eyes returned to normal. Mira’s did the same.

“So you remember me!” he said. “How fortunate. I wondered if you’d lost some of your memories after your reincarnation.”

Mira’s lips parted, as if to speak, but Cursa continued.

“So this is your new face! How exciting for you, It’s always refreshing to have a new identity, isn’t it? Where no one knows who you really are?” he said. “You know, speaking of exciting…” his voice trailed as his up-beat expression faded until his face went blank, as if portraying no emotion at all. “Tell me what happened on Cestus.”

Mira knew it was only a matter of time before he asked. Had he been tracking her ever since? Waiting for her to reincarnate?

“What do you mean? I died on Cestus and now I’m here. What’s there to tell?”

Cursa lifted a brow at her, inhaling and then releasing it in a prominent sigh. “Mira...Mira...Mira,” he said again. “What are we going to do with you? Just tell me what happened on Cestus. Antares would like to know as well.”

Mira stood there, her eyes on Cursa’s. She had a feeling that Antares wasn’t as concerned as Cursa was. She doubted Antares even knew Cursa was here on Malstyx. It was surely just a hollow threat and ploy.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said. ”Besides the fact that I died.”

Cursa’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit. “Perhaps we should start with an easier question, one which is far more recent. Like...why didn’t you tell anyone that you’d risen? It’s just common courtesy to let your kin know that you’re back from the dead, Mira.”

She swallowed, having prepared for such a question with a bit of truth. “I didn’t want anyone to know I was around. I didn’t want anything to hinder my masquerade here on Malstyx, while I worked.”

“Hinder your masquerade while you worked?” Cursa said with a laugh. “So, hiding who you were...was what you were doing in the bank? And working, is what you call letting that demon of greed live?”

Mira stood her ground. “That demon was a valuable asset and not a high priority for extermination,” she countered.

Cursa’s head tilted back the slightest bit. “You do remember what you are, don’t you?” he asked. “It’s our job to kill demons!” he shouted now. Apparently Cursa had no qualms about his own masquerade. Of course, with the incident up in the bank, Mira doubted there wasn’t a single demon on Malstyx that didn’t know Cursa was here.

“You see, it’s very simple. Our existence is very simple,” he said. “Vereans drink blood, humans mess things up and lose planets. Phoenixs, like ourselves, we kill demons.”

Mira’s fists tightened as she started to lose her patience the more Cursa’s words dug at her.

Before she could respond to his latest comments, Cursa decided he had more to say. “I find it really strange. It just baffles me. You didn’t even tell Sol that you came back. Now I find that immensely unusual, given the nature of your relationship. That whole debacle with his home system, was all because of you. Wasn’t it?”

“That’s none of your concern,” she said. She wanted to lash out. She wanted to yell at him. She wanted to punch him in his damn face.

Cursa paused a moment, his eyes finally diverting from Mira as he looked around. “You’re right, you’re right. That was all Sol’s fault, surely no one would blame you for what happened. But there I go getting side tracked.” He looked back to Mira.

“So you have no specks of information about Cestus? Anything about why the gates were destroyed? You volunteered to go there. I could’ve gone myself, but Antares thought it was a waste to send two of us. So we let you handle things. But you didn’t handle things, did you? An entire world has gone dark.”

“I went to Cestus,” said Mira. “I investigated the artifact. There didn’t seem to be anything demonic about it. I told you and everyone else in the report I sent. But before I could return, I died. That’s the last thing I can recall.”

“And what happened to the artifact?” Cursa asked quickly.

Mira shrugged. “It must be on Cestus,” she said.

Cursa was idle for several long seconds before his lips parted with a smile. The tips of his fangs could be seen as he then nodded. “You know, you’re right. It must still be there. Since you told everyone that the artifact wasn’t a problem, that must be true as well. I just—” Cursa began to tap his chin as he looked away. “ Well you see...first the human’s home system, with you and Sol...and then you go and die on Cestus, another human colony. Only to be found years later. I mean...what’ve you been doing all this time? You haven’t been on Malstyx, I know that much. Else I’d have found you a bit sooner. It just...it leaves your character a bit suspect, doesn’t it?”

Cursa waved his hand before Mira could even comment. “But...let’s just forget all that business about Cestus for now. You’ve been here on Malstyx for a while, I’d imagine. So, what’ve you been pursuing? Any leads on the prison break?”

Mira’s brow furrowed. “Prison break?” she asked, but the moment the words left her lips, she knew she’d made another mistake.

“You don’t know?” he asked. “I would’ve thought that it would’ve been a high priority. After all, dozens of convicts were reportedly abducted by an unknown vessel. You really didn’t hear anything about this?”

Mira gritted her teeth. “I’ve been pursuing a drug with demonic origins, which has been leaked into the populace. It’s creating monsters and more of the drug is being distributed by the day.”

“Demonic drug?” he asked. “How do you know it’s demonic in origin and not just some mutation weapon devised by one of the corporations here on Malstyx?”

Mira wasn’t about to tell Cursa about Noree. “A demonic origin is the conclusion my investigation has led me to, based on the mutations and characteristics of the monsters.”

Cursa shook his head. “I saw a report about the drug you’re referring to. I hardly gave it any notice. The monsters didn’t show any characteristics of demons. I can’t believe you’ve been wasting all your time on that.”

Cursa’s face was looking more and more punchable every moment. Mira’s hands clutched together behind her back.

“Did you at least investigate what I would consider to be the second highest priority?”

Mira had a feeling she wasn’t going to enjoy what he said next. “And what do you feel that is, Cursa?”

Cursa looked away, and gestured to the streets. “Well, it’s right there in front of you. I’d say it’s almost everywhere.”

Mira turned her head, glancing behind her at the streets. She looked around. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“These...sphinxes. Don’t tell me you let that slip by you as well? Really Mira...a company which is messing with these humans' DNA, and warping them? This really didn’t jump out at you as being worth investigating?”

Mira listened to his words and caught sight of several dog-eared, spotted-humans, walking about. “You don’t really think…” she trailed off as she looked back to Cursa. He was staring her down again. Unfortunately, now that it was pointed out to her.

It...made a little sense. Damnit. Why did it have to make so much sense? Why was she so blind not to see it?

“I’d overlooked it,” Mira admitted. She hoped that Cursa would lighten up on her, if she admitted to this.

“No matter, I’m sure you’ve had your hands full with all the demons you’ve been destroying in your pursuit of this...drug and its...what? Manufacturers?” he asked, but Mira saw through his words and knew he was mocking her.

Instead of defending her own actions, Mira asked, “what will you be doing? Surely you came here with something more in mind, than to question me about things I don’t know?”

Cursa smiled and shrugged. He took a step away. “I’ll be doing what I was created to do. Which is more than I can say for you, Mira. Don’t worry, I’ll see how truly deep the corruption on Malstyx runs. I don’t plan on leaving soon, I’ll be in touch.”

Mira watched as the other phoenix stepped past her and headed down the street. She kept her eyes on him until he had disappeared around the corner. She looked to the bank and saw that the smoke had subsided. She realized her hands were still clenched.

The sudden vibration of her data-band made Mira jump. She glanced around quickly, as she was still lingering at the bottom of the stairs to the bank. She moved to the wall, for at least a minimal amount of privacy. She tapped her data-band and checked the message. It was from Noree. She scanned over the words. Finally, some good news.