Chapter 58

“Polylateral.”

(Is it done?)

(It’s at 70 percent)

(How long wud it take?)

(I’ve been printing since 8)

(This morning?)

(Affirmative.)

(So 14 hrs?)

(Affirmative.)

(So around 5% per/hr?)

(I’ve checked your calculations)

(It is correct)

(Fuk 6 more hrs)

(At this rate i’ll be l8)

(No worries madam)

(I’ll made sure to make proper adjustments)

(Rlly simon?)

(U do dat 4 me?)

(Affirmative)

(This can be a crucial trump card for later)

(As owner client always said)

(Always have a plan B)

(Well cool then)

(Thanks simon)

(Pleasure)

(BTW how do u plan to delay the meeting?)

(Simple)

(I could just delay their flight)

(U can do that?)

(Easy.)

(Oh wow..)

(Cool then…)

(Thanks again Simon)

(Always a pleasure)

[Loran Household]

-Somewhere near the Metro business district-

‘Oh gaahhdd it’s you again…’ Lorna looks exasperated as she sees the usual annoyed looking mug of a person she was certain wouldn;t see for quite a while. ‘Why are you back Miles?’ She complained as Miles stared back at her, equally miffed at seeing her again.

-Sigh- ‘Let me in and you’ll know why.’ Miles gives a snarky reply.

‘Miles… don’t do this again. Val’s office was one thing okay? This is my home you don’t expect me to just open the do--’

‘Is that Miles?’ Lorna’s father, Dante, peeks from behind the half opened door as Lorna nods at her dad, shrugging her shoulders.

‘Well let her in. I was waiting for her.’ He said, leaving Lorna with a stunned look on her face as she turns around to a smug looking Miles, waiting for her to be ushered in.

Lorna sighs and opens the door to let her in but as soon as she swung the door wide open, another figure appeared beside Miles.

A petite woman, who looks around the same age as hers, with shining platinum blonde hair.

‘Who’s she?’ Lorna asked.

‘Oh, I forgot to introduce our other guest.’ Miles said as she pulled over the lady to her side of the porch.

‘This nice lady here is a Carbine.’

Upon hearing the name Lorna immediately shuts the door.

‘No! No! Nope! No! Nope! No, what the fuck, what the flying fuck she had--’ The voice fades away as Miles can hear her heavy footsteps walking away from the door.

A few moments of waiting had passed before the door swung open again. This time it was her father who opened it.

‘Hello Dante.’ Miles cheerfully greets him.

‘Hello Miles and you must be Miss Polylateral?’ He formally addressed his young guest.

‘Please… call me Polly.’ She said with a meek smile.

‘Well good afternoon Miss Polly, Miles, Come in.’ Dante said as he ushered his guests in, but as they made their way through the door he noticed a keen whirring sound as one of them passed by him. He wanted to instinctively make a remark but thought better of it and instead made a note to ask for later, as for now he just wants to make sure his guests felt comfortable and well attended to.

‘Coffee? Tea?’

‘Me?’ Miles teasingly responds as she hears an “ahem” from behind.

‘Oh hi Saeko. I was just joking.’ She said as Dante’s wife stared her down. ‘I know… well… you better be.’ Saeko eerily sends her playful threat as Miles covers her lips like an “oops” expression as she was not expecting her to react so stiffly.

‘Anyways, back to seriousness it’s coffee for me.’

‘How ‘bout you Polly?’ Dante asks as Polly widens her eyes after hearing the question, seemingly at a loss on how to answer.

‘Oh she’s just fine, she’ll pass right Polly?’ Miles interjects as Polly nods, but the way they acted only made Dante even more suspicious as he stood up with a smile and headed to the kitchen to make the drinks.

‘No. Let me.’ Saeko steps in after her husband but Dante stops her and whispers to her: ‘No. Let me. I need you to stay hidden here and observe them for a moment.’ He said as Saeko nodded and found a hidden spot where she could still hear them talking.

…

…

‘It takes a lot of balls to do this Polly… Color me impressed.’ Miles whispered, keeping her lips still like a ventriloquist as she kept her gaze straight, trying to make it seem like they weren’t talking.

‘Well it didn’t take a lot for me Miles… I am not totally alone on this venture. I am just here since I’m the least known out of the four.’ Polly whispered back, keeping the same posture as Miles.

‘So who’s really on our side?’ Miles asked.

‘Everyone.’

…

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

Miles crosses her legs and her arms and falls back on the sofa cushion, pondering on what she had learned. There were a few moments of silence before she sighs and gives her reply.

‘Okay then… good. But.’ Miles pauses, finally making a choice to gaze directly at her eyes to further drive her point.

‘Beware of the second.’

…

‘I know.’

After their brief exchange, Dante finally returns to the living area with two cups of freshly brewed coffee, still steaming from the kettle.

‘So Miles, mind telling me why you wanted to set up this meeting?’ Dante asks after handing the coffee to Miles.

‘Yes. But before that, I require the rest of your family to listen in.’ She says as Dante crumples his brow upon hearing his family’s involvement.

‘What does my family have to do with this, Miles?’ He reacts looking distraught at Miles’ request.

‘Nothing much. Just moral support.’ She said calmly, but Dante couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

‘Moral support huh? That’s it?’

‘That’s it.’

‘Then why the serious face then Miles? Why do I feel like I’m sending my family into the depths of hell?

I mean.

YOU already got ONE of my daughters GRAVELY injured after that little stunt you pulled and NOW you’re asking my whole family’s involvement?!

You’d have to be joking Miles!

I can’t accept any more favors.’

Dante declared as he leans forwards with his hands braced to rest his chin over, his eyes glaring at Miles with a look of disappointment towards him as she sighs after hearing his answer.

‘Dante.’ She said, putting down her coffee on the table between them. ‘You’re already denying me without even hearing what I’m trying to propose?’

‘What is it then?’ Dante responds. ‘For some stupid reason you always want to make things as theatrical as possible Miles I dunno why.

But I am a man who likes to cut the chase.

The last time you explained things to me, my daughter was injured and there was a PR shitstorm that I had to pull many strings to calm down.

Needless to say I’ve been forced to use my trump cards to cover up your little activity.

You cost me a lot Miles… A lot.

So based on your track record I have good reason to outright reject you if I don’t like your presentation.’ Dante enumerates eloquently as Miles could only mockingly chuckle in response.

‘How boring. Like a true politician.’ She remarked, looking back at Dante as if she were talking to a pubescent child throwing a tantrum.

Meanwhile while they were arguing, Saeko had overheard the conversation and went to find her daughter whom she caught spying from the top step of their staircase, listening in on the echoes of her father’s conversation. She looks up, snaps her fingers to get Lorna’s attention and like a true mother of asian descent, pulls off her slipper and gestures to her to come down and join. To which Lorna reluctantly agrees.

‘Ah it looks like the rest of your family decided to join.’ Miles said, noticing that Lorna and Saeko arrive from behind Dante as he takes a deep breath to prepare himself for what Miles wants to ask of them.

‘Okay then.

I want your father to run for Presidency.

‘Hello Simon. Took you a while.’ Neeya greets the android with her usual sarcastic grin as Simon opens the door to let the three of them in, noticing all three looked exhausted and sweaty, making him think that the plan had failed. However Neeya reported that it was all a success and that it was Simon’s fault for arriving late which was why they looked so haggard already.

‘Well in that case I apologize. Though I might add that, Owner Client “did” say to take your time. Am I correct?’

He adds, which sparked the ire of Neeya, who was already at her limits in patience.

‘Just drive, Robot!’

Neeya, Nica and Yukino have been walking and talking for the past half hour trying to get out of the suburbs where Nica’s family lived. It was the first time that Nica fully understood how big their community was. Usually she would take the school bus to take her to and from school, a trip that would take the bus around 5 minutes to get out of their area. But they have been walking the same route now for over half an hour and so far they have only covered half of the route.

It was mostly a hassle because the roads inside their community were twisty and undulating, with the hills and crests that they had to climb over. But the real reason for their struggle was because Neeya wasn’t used to the heat, dragging them to slow their pace, which in turn also exhausted the two girls.

‘You want me to start driving, but I don’t have a destination?’ Simon responds as Neeya was starting a self-destruct sequence in her mind. Thankfully Yukino had already built a sixth sense towards Neeya’s erratic behavior, quickly stepping in to defuse the situation.

‘Simon!’ She quickly interjects. ‘We wanna go for some ice cream. Know any places?’

‘Searching…’

…

…

‘There is a place ten minutes from here with great reviews. Do you want to try it?’

‘Yes!’ They unanimously answered as Simon put the car in gear and drove off to their destination. The rest of the car ride going there was unusually peaceful as the three girls savored the cold chill coming from the car’s air conditioning with Nica barely keeping herself awake after exhausting her emotions earlier. A thing that was still bothering Yukino the most as she noticed Nica backing off to deliberately let her get in the car first after Neeya stormed in the moment the doors were unlocked.

In the back of her mind she thought: ‘Will she be okay?’ Alluding to the fact that Neeya is supposed to be her bodyguard and hence would have to spend some time with her alone.

Needless to say, their relationship had already gotten off on the wrong foot.

Upon arriving the three of them were surprised that the place Simon had brought them to was merely a modest ice cream truck operating at a carpark only a few blocks away from their school.

‘I never knew such a place existed near our school.’ Nica states as she looks at all of the flavor choices written on the chalkboard leaning on the side of the truck.

‘Yeah… I never knew this was here. And I’m the one who has been in the school for longer.’ Yukino replies as Neeya walks past her and Simon to join Nica by the chalkboard.

‘Well then, I am afraid I can’t ingest solid foods so I shall be staying by the car. You girls enjoy the rest of your afternoon.’ Simon said as he opened the door to step back inside. But before he could even get in Yukino interrupts him with a question.

‘Simon?’

‘Yes madam?’

‘Do I really have to be away?... You know… from the talk?’

Simon looks at her with the same blank look he has whenever he is trying to calculate the odds of something.

‘Yes. You are not part of this plan. I believe that owner client wants you to focus on your life at school for the moment. All you need to know for the meantime is the end goal of said plan.’

‘Which is my father’s presidency.’

‘Correct.’

‘But what about my sister?’

‘She is part of the plan.’

‘And my mother?’

‘Likewise.’

Yukino looks down feeling isolated as she speculates that Miles excluded her because she wasn’t “adult” enough to join.

‘Miss Yukino?’ Simon calls her in a softer tone. ‘I know you might be feeling “left out” with all of this. But I believe owner client has chosen this path to keep you safe.’

‘But I don’t need to be babysitted Simon!’ She raises her voice at him as he kept his cold blank stare at her, un waving and unchanging.

‘Let me guess. You are thinking about your sister's adventures aren’t you?’ He replied, referring to Lorna’s past actions back when she was young in Japan.

‘Yes! If she can do all of those things then why can’t I?’ She complains as Simon looks down, calculating on how he should respond.

‘Has your sister ever told you about the many times she almost died?’ He responds as Yukino looks at him with an annoyed glare.

‘Of course! It’s the very thing that made me wanna take on more daring things!’

‘Like volunteering on the “raid” investigations?’

Simon swiftly responds, catching Yukino off guard. ‘Y-Yeah..’ She replied.

…

‘Well let me tell you this…

Your sister.

Should’ve been dead.

Along with that rowdy friend of hers.’

…

Yukino’s eyes grew wide with Simon’s declaration as a flood of sheer denial invades every fiber of her body.

‘Don’t bullshit me.’

‘I do not.

Owner client stepped in to save them.

Curiously enough. Luck, no matter how seldom it gets used, is finite.

And if you haven’t noticed it I will tell you that Lorna had learned her lesson by assigning you under two of the most capable police detectives in the country when you had asked to be part of the action.

She’s not taking her chances.’ Simon lectured, crossing his arms as he recalls all the reports from the raids that Miles had him send to her.

‘On the other hand… that rowdy friend of hers…has not learned her lesson.’ He continued as he shifted his gaze towards Yukino.

‘She is a lot like you in terms of hunger.

Always looking for the next thrilling thing to do, and wanting a piece of it.

It is going to get your sister killed one day.’

Simon said, looking away at the sunset as it sinks below the city’s skyline.

‘Word of advice.

Wisen up.

Learn when enough is enough.

And develop a good head on those sturdy shoulders.

And maybe one day… you might end up saving someone.’ Simon smiles as he resigns himself back inside the car. Leaving Yukino alone to ponder on his words.

She looks at the two girls ahead of her. One was shy and flawed, her posture had grown meek looking afraid and unsure at how she should handle the rest of her days. The other was unknown to her but was enough of an open book to give her clues on how she wants to be treated.

She can already tell that there was a developing animosity between them. Possibly because both find each other insulting to their own nature. One grew up in a secure household where her tragedies had spawned from the deficits of having a strict upbringing whilst the other grew up rough and possibly sees everyone else’s problems as child’s play causing them both to feel that the other was invalidating their own tragedies.

She thinks back on what Simon had said. About how Miles wanted her to keep her focus on her school life.

And she thinks that; maybe Miles wasn’t talking about her academics. As she starts to grow an understanding of what role she should play towards everyone she knows, slowly realizing what her role is to be moving forwards as she forms her resolve.

And as she does, she takes a deep breath and walks towards them. Not to solve anything, nor to find a good solution to make them friends;

But just to order some ice cream.

There was silence inside the room as the Loran family members that were present wore dumbfounded looks on their faces after hearing the full extent of the risks of being involved with the plan.

And to make it worse for them, this was no voluntary mission.

Dante’s candidacy was mandatory.

…

‘So… I am the only one whom you think can pull this off?’

‘No.’ The woman with the platinum hair jumps in. ‘You are the only person I can trust.’ She said, looking dead straight at Dante’s worried eyes.

…

‘Miles? You still haven’t told us why there is a Carbine in our living room.’ Lorna breaks the quiet as she glares intolerantly at Polly, making her flustered as she quickly looks away from Lorna’s judging gaze.

‘Goodness you’re such a sore loser…’ She responds, making Lorna flare her nostrils. ‘F.Y.I Lorna, you’re the only one here seemingly unaware of this lovely lady by my side. Please… go read the news feed for once and educate yourself.’

‘Miles why do you always try to spin things round? Just answer the--’

‘My name is Polylateral Life Carbine!’

Polly shouted, sensing the brewing hostility between the two, fearing that an argument was on the horizon which was something that she could not afford at the moment. Especially as the plan that they proposed was time sensitive.

She needed an answer fast, because a certain someone was not going to wait for them to act. Her sudden outburst had Lorna surprised for a moment but she quickly gathered her posture against the sole member of the Carbine family that sat before her.

‘Well then Poly… something…’

‘Polly… Just call me Polly.’

‘Right… Polly… What makes you think that after all that your family has done towards this country, plus all the shit you put us through, that we’ll even consider trusting you?

As far as I’m concerned you are a Carbine.’

‘Lorna!’ Her father voiced out, but it was not enough to stop her.

‘No Dad! This is super sketchy, You might even get killed! Assassinated!’ Lorna said, recalling the events that happened during the last mission. ‘Me and Val went up against them many times and everytime we did one of us got seriously injured. If you're gonna run to gain leverage against Carbine influence then I wouldn’t put it past me that the odds of us being targeted is out of the table!’

‘Lorna stop!’

‘No!

You’re thinking of your ambition once again! You’re thinking of agreeing cuz it aligns with your interests! Don’t forget that Miles is here. She probably has a folder of you somewhere containing your personal data, your likes, dreams--’

‘Lorna!’

Another shout echoed around the room, but this time it was not her father’s voice.

It was her mother’s.

‘We are here to witness and support. Not as advisers. Let your father decide.’

‘But mom…’

‘No.’

Lorna’s eyes started pouring tears as she mumbles some profanity under her breath as stomps out of the area in spite, but just as she thought she could just march out of the room like a cliche from a movie. Her mother’s reflexes got the better of her, pulling her back into her spot and keeping a tight grip on her wrist.

Making sure she could not escape.

‘Now listen! Listen even if you don’t like to hear it! Listen even if the decision is against your own wishes! Must I tell you again that you are not the head of this family and that you are not because you still fail to see six degrees beyond yourself!

Listen and stay put!

I will not repeat this again.’ Saeko commands her daughter as Lorna’s distraught and messy expression reluctantly stays put behind her father, crying tears of anger and spite, powerless to change anything. All whilst glaring murderously at Polly, who can only look at her blankly, with a cold lifeless expression in her eyes, which for a moment she mistook for a doll before seeing a glimmer of worry in her eyes.

It’s as if she had turned off her emotions for a moment.

‘I’m sorry…’

Polly utters as she curls up her hands into a ball on her lap, struggling to find the next words to say, but Miles gives her an encouraging pat on the back, giving her a small boost to say what she needed to express.

‘But there is no other way for us to prevent the eventual predation of our company on your home soil. Yuni, my brother, is intent on getting on with the space race.

He is willing to do whatever it takes to get an upper hand on the competition. And this includes endangering not only just the people outside our reach, but also people within the company.

I know him since we have been conceived and his ambition to be ahead outclasses everyone I have ever met. Even people who are as powerful as he, pales in comparison.

He is inhuman.

His thirst is inhuman.

In fact, the only thing preventing him from completely taking over is us.

His siblings.

For some reason our parents had foreseen this happening with Yuni and placed restrictions on how the company would be run as written in their will.

It is the only thing he cannot overwrite.

But it’s not safe to assume he’s not trying to make up something that could change this and when that “eventually” happens then we have no choice…

And I don’t want that choice to happen.’

Polly looks down with a bitter expression on her face as she sucks in her lips, feeling a painful ping within her chest as the thought of the last resort haunts her.

‘And so? What choice? Is that so scary?’ Lorna responds spitefully at Polly as she looks back at her looking deeply troubled.

‘That choice… is to kill him. “Her” primary job.’ Poly answers as she looks at Miles as she utters the words.

To Lorna, everything that was mentioned was incoherent and annoying. Failing to understand the context of things as her feelings was trying to get the best of her with her mother Saeko the only deterrent she has from going berserk in front of their guests.

Dante on the other hand, was wide-eyed and astonished. As his eyes darted back and forth between Polly and Miles. It’s as if something had clicked within his mind as he looked at his seething daughter and his wife Saeko, whom she herself looked like she had realized something.

He sighs.

‘I really have no other choice… Do I?’

…

Miles gives him a bitter smile.

‘None…’

…

…

…

A car had pulled up from the driveway as the doors of the Loran household opened. Emerging from the other side were the pair of Miles and Polly as they walk down the steps to meet them.

‘How’re the two?’ Miles asks as Yukino stepped out of the vehicle to greet them.

‘It’s pretty bad. But not my problem.’ She dryly replied. Miles gives her a proud smile and pats her hard on the small of her back.

‘Good! Let them both suffer!’ She said, haughtily laughing. ‘C’mon Polly! Let’s wrap up for today.’ She continues as she escorts the beautiful doll-like beauty beside her with the same platinum hair as the violent girl she had been introduced to earlier that day.

‘Does she only ever know blondes?’ She thought as she waves the car goodbye, following it out of their gates as it disappears from a distance. Upon confirming their long awaited departure;

She sighs. Heavily. Exhausted. Drained.

It was a long day and she felt like her luck had been drained by the two girls she had accompanied earlier.

‘Wait a sec?’

She suddenly remembers something when she recalls the word “luck” in her mind as she quickly pulls out her phone to check something out.

‘If I remember correctly I did something on a whim cuz I was feeling lucky…’ She thought to herself as she scrolled through the contents of her phone, trying to find something in particular.

‘Here we go!’ She said aloud as she found the browser tab she was looking for:

The National Sweepstakes.

She checks the numbers versus her bets:

Player: 06-55-04-28-19-11

Draw: 04-06-11-16-28-55

‘Damn… one number…’ She said, as she sighs, turning around to accept her luck running out at the last possible second to miss a single digit.

And it was true,

For the scenes she goes home to when she had opened the door was far from pleasant.

‘So I guess this is where we part our ways?’ Polly said as she stared out of the window, admiring the late afternoon vanilla sky as she pondered on the day that had passed. Miles, on the other hand, takes a gander at her being, wondering, thinking and getting lost at those thoughts and as those thoughts become deeper and deeper, she wakes as she physically feels herself being carried away by their turbulent waves as she hastily prepares an answer for Polly.

‘Yeah… I guess so… till next--’

Miles was abruptly stopped as she felt Polly’s head lean on her shoulders.

Immediately she was overcome with feelings she had never felt before. Or rather, feelings she had never felt in a long, long time.

Sadly, as she looks down to check on her sleeping face, she only finds cold, blank eyes, staring into oblivion.

‘I believe she had “logged off” madam.’ Simon said as Miles sighs remembering what the “person” beside her really was.

‘These new model “eight” droids sure are fascinating…’ She sarcastically remarked, patting the model’s hair down as it still eerily looked like Polly, down to her various aesthetic “flaws”

‘They are…’ Simon replies. ‘But please tell me you don’t plan on printing one for my replacement?’ He continues, sounding concerned as Miles looks up to find his eyes looking at the rearview looking at her, giving him a cheeky reply of an eerie naughty smile.

*Pant- Pant*

*Pant

*pant-Pant-puh

*Pant-pah

…

…

The sound of heavy breathing echoed around the room as it was the only thing anyone can hear inside the entirety of the hillside mansion where she was currently residing.

As soon as she was able to regain consciousness back inside her own body, Polylateral Carbine woke up hyperventilating in cold sweat.

The model 8’s feature of remote handling was a safe method of remote control that has been tested and proven to be safe and non taxing to the human mind that the average human can control and live in one for weeks on end without suffering any psychological complications. Needless to say, it wasn’t the remote functions that was causing Polly to hyperventilate.

‘I-- I--

I can’t do this.’