Chapter Text
“One, two, three… seven, eight… oh! Free parking!”
“What? Again? That’s bullshit!”
A small grin graced Renee’s face as she watched Natalie tap her console to the center of the holoboard, collecting the virtual money to fund her already thriving empire. Ramya, on the other hand, was less than thrilled, her console telling the entire table that she was nearly in the red. She reached for the dice, only for Tressa to smack her hand away.
“It’s Mara’s turn.”
Mara tentatively reached for the dice, gave them a shake, and tossed them from her hand. She seemed to be struggling with the concept of the game, still trying to acclimate to the idea that something so frustrating could be considered fun. She glanced down at the dice and tapped the appropriate number into the board, watching as her little bat character slipped toward home. Before the piece could come to rest where it belonged, Ramya dove for the dice and gave them a toss.
A seven.
Which landed her straight in jail.
Again.
She let out a groan, shooting up and throwing her hands into the air. “This game is bloody impossible.”
“Don’t be a poor sport, Ya-Ya.” Kairi’s voice drew Ramya’s attention from the board game to the pilot, who was snuggled on Renee’s couch with Anita in her arms. Anita only snorted as she looked at the board, before whispering something to Kairi that got her to burst into laughter. Ramya scoffed at this, demoralized.
“You come play the bloody game and let’s see how you handle it.” Ramya grumbled, before turning back toward the board. Noting that she wasn’t going to come back from this, she moved to stand, pawing at the bag she had slung over the back of her chair. “Fuck, I’m gonna smoke.”
“Close the door on the way out. Not everyone wants to get high tonight.” Renee waved her off as she pulled her attention back to the game. She was just about tapped out too, but she wasn’t a quitter… unlike some people. She shared a soft smile with Natalie, before grabbing the die. She was about to roll, when Ramya’s faint voice caught her attention.
“Blasey?”
Renee sighed at this, dropping the dice into the recently-emptied center of the board, before turning to Tressa. “Skip my turn. I’ll be right back.”
She stood, pulling away from the table and tramping to the other side of her room, toward her balcony. She ignored the sickeningly sweet coos of the two lovers lounging on her couch, before slipping out the door. She took up the space beside Ramya, frowning at the scent of weed, though her annoyance was quickly overshadowed by the distant blaring of alarms. Her gaze snapped upward, watching as lights flashed from across the city. Although her first thought was that the Victor’s Circle had malfunctioned again , a cursory glance betrayed that the arena - covered in flashing banners of the Legends - was operating as expected. No, the disturbance was a great distance from the arena… toward Hammond Lab’s most recent installation. She leaned against the railing of the balcony, letting the haze of the smoke waft around her.
“What do ya think’s going on?” Ramya asked as she took a drag, before mirroring Renee’s posture.
“I don’t know.”
“And the -uh- voices?” Ramya tapped a finger to her head, and Renee rolled her eyes.
“Quiet. It’s probably just a drill of some sort.” Renee shrugged, turning to enter her apartment again, though the screaming of SWAT transport ships above them stopped her in her tracks. Ramya glanced up too, and their gazes followed the ships as they beelined toward the disturbance. An uneasy pit welled in Renee’s stomach - the same unease that came with a spell. She braced against the railings in case she went down.
She nearly did. Her mind suddenly became too loud with the voices of her alternate selves, so much so that it nearly swept her off her feet. She stumbled into Ramya, her eyes glowing white.
Open a portal. NOW. Don’t ask questions. Open a portal. Before it's too late. Open it!
Renee lifted her gaze to Ramya, just barely able to see her through the fog. Without a word, Ramya led her inside.
The boisterous revelry died to a whisper at the sight of Renee, with both Tressa and Natalie darting up in concern. Before Renee could speak, what could only be described as a pain akin to an icepick splitting her skull brought her to her knees. With a raw scream, she threw her hand outward, opening a portal.
Not a second later, two beings crashed through the portal, slamming into one another and falling onto the table which had housed their game. The table, not meant to support the weight of two bots, shattered, sending them crashing into the ground. Bodies splayed about, it was obvious that the bots were not functioning entirely as intended, becoming a tangle of wayward limbs as they attempted to extricate themselves from the other.
Relief flooded Renee instantly, and she closed the portal. Weakly, she stood, allowing Natalie to wrap a concerned arm around her waist for stability. She sighed heavily, before watching as two sims finally managed to stand. The tallest one drew Renee’s attention first - he was red and black, bearing feline glowing eyes and a permanently-molded smile. Chest broad, hips narrow, claws sharp , Renee couldn’t help the nagging feeling which told her that she knew this sim. She hardly had time to look at the other sim before Kairi yelled out.
“No way. No fucking way.” She nearly jumped out of Anita’s arms and over the back of the couch to draw close to the sims. Eyes narrowing, before widening, her mouth fell slack. “Loba?”
The room went dead silent at this, and Renee felt Natalie tense against her as she finally was able to take in the other sim.
She was definitely feminine, curated to look more like a doll than a robot. Her face was porcelain, painted and carved to appear almost as she had as a human. Her uncanny appearance was only made worse by her empty eye sockets, which, if anyone were to looked into, would reveal her internal computing system. Her body mold was also quite similar to the former thief, though Renee couldn’t make sense as to why . Especially when her male counterpart looked like… well, that. Then, everything made sense. This other sim… he couldn’t have been anyone other than Revenant.
The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a kunai. Natalie slowly pulled Renee back and away from the sims as Tressa moved toward them, intending to offer a hand. Anita and Kairi seemed equally stunned, unmoving, mouth agape. Mara was the only one unphased by the sims - she was actually more phased by the interrupted game, sweeping her hand toward the mangled board beneath Loba’s heeled foot.
“It was my turn! I wanted to move my little Echo guy!”
Revenant stepped toward Mara, clawed hand extended in a silent threat, although his slow and laggy movement worked against his typical threatening demeanor. Mara hardly flinched as she knelt down, trying to tug the game board out from under Loba.
“Should I ask why everyone looks like they’ve seen a ghost?” Tressa broke the silence with confusion weighing on her brow as she moved in to grab something from Revenant’s arms. He pulled away from the touch, sputtering a static-y hiss. Tressa got the message, easing back.
“It’s a long story.” Ramya muttered as she fastened her fists to her hips. Although Revenant was responsive, Loba was completely still, staring eyelessly at them like prey in the headlights of a land crawler. She only moved to interlock pinkies with the demonic sim. “Thanks for crashing our girls’ night.”
Revenant’s gaze snapped toward Ramya, his head cocking slightly to the side. Without a word, and with a great deal of static sputtering, his eyes flickered out and he collapsed, dropping the jars that Renee had just noticed he was holding. Loba went down with him, sprawling across his lap as they both shut down.
Everyone’s gazes slowly centered on Ramya, and she let out a begrudging sigh. “On it.”
“Here, let me help you.” Tressa offered, moving to help Ramya collect the heavy, lifeless shells. Tressa, in moving to lift Loba, accidentally kicked one of the jars, sending it spinning outward into the view of Kairi and Anita. It took a second for Kairi to register what she was seeing, but when she did, a green tinge was quick to mar her face. She shot up, staggering toward Renee’s balcony with Anita fussing at her heels.
Taking a step closer, Renee was able to see what the hubbub was all about.
Inside the jar was Loba’s head.