I pause for a moment, taking another small sip of my drink… some sort of blackberry martini, the bartender called it. “Talk?” I ask. “What do we need to talk about? And who are you, anyway?”

“Oh, you have quite the spark in your eyes, kid! I like it!” she says.

I furrow my brows. I don’t appreciate being called a ‘kid’, and the fact that she’s refused to answer my question irritates me to no end.

“If you like it so much, then you can show your gratitude by telling me who you are and what you want with me.”

I sense Ether moving about her. It’s a lot. Not nearly as much as Madison— then again, nothing is as threatening as Madison when she goes all out. Madison herself might be human, but her power is… truly terrifying. Inhuman, perhaps even demonic according to some. Absolute power, the sort that makes Skills and experience utterly meaningless before it. Though she has over a century of experience behind her every movement as well. Compared to her, this woman is but an annoying, buzzing fly.

Her eyes widen slightly. I feel a burst of energy heading toward me. Undeterred, I use [Skill Crumple] and crush the attack before it can affect me. I remain unharmed, though not without a considerable loss of [Ether].

“Please don’t do that again,” I say. Inwardly, I’m trying to dissect what sort of Skill she was just using. Is she an enemy? I have to assume that that’s a possibility. I partially override the racing of my heart and the feeling of clammy hands trying to come to the forefront. I hope this doesn’t come to a fight. If it does, however, I’ll need to be careful. That attack was strong.

“Intriguing,” she mutters. “I must admit, I am impressed. I wasn’t sure what sort of an individual would be able to so easily pierce my veil. When I saw that you were but a young girl, I was disappointed. Worried that you’d done so completely by accident, or that the veil was defective. But here you are, resisting my Skill like it’s nothing. You even managed to cause me a bit of backlash damage.”

I furrow my brows. [Skill Crumple] shouldn’t inflict backlash on a person. There’s nothing in the Skill description that even hints at such a thing. Does it work differently on this woman? Or is it a product of the specific Skill she used? Just who is she?

She turns to the bartender, opening her eyes wide for a split second. The bartender momentarily stiffens, his posture going ramrod straight.

“Roland, is it?” She pulls out a sack containing numerous credits of different denominations, dozens of blocks of twenty and fifty and even a couple of hundreds as well. “She and I will require the place for the next few hours. This should be more than enough to compensate you for the use of your establishment for the rest of the day.”

Roland— though I have no idea how she knows him— looks through the pouch of money. His eyes widen, and a grin breaks out on his face. “Yes, Ma’am,” he says.

“Alright everyone!” he says to the whole establishment. “You’ve got five minutes to sober up, get a ride, and get lost! We’re closing up early today!”

An utter pandemonium breaks out among the crowd. Skills fire off in rapid succession as the haggardly men rush to get out the door in short order. A few among them, whether out of compassion or some hope that they’ll be spared from the order, are assisting the barkeep in gathering the half-empty glasses and mugs and bringing them forth for processing. It all takes place so quickly, and sure enough, not quite five minutes later, the place looks… not quite pristine, but serviceable. No one is left in the room but me, Roland, and the mysterious woman, who hasn’t moved more than a few casual breaths since dropping the pouch of money on the counter and issuing her order.

“Alright, you two, the door should automatically lock up when you’re done with your meeting. Just please don’t ruin the place while I’m gone.”

Roland seems all too eager to get out of the bar as soon as possible, summoning a flying bike and zooming out in a flurry. I notice a cold sweat on him as well; did something about this woman scare him senseless?

I don’t have much time to ponder. The moment he’s out of sight, the woman stands up and begins pacing about in a calm, cool demeanor. She doesn’t make a sound, her every step made with poise and elegance, the long, wide sleeves of her dress flowing about in a strangely alluring dance.

“Tell me,” she says abruptly. “Who are you? You’re no ordinary girl, that’s for sure.”

“I see you still aren’t willing to tell me who you are,” I respond. Not fair at all! If she wants to know about me, she has to tell me about herself as well!

“I suppose you need something to call me, seeing as though we’re going to be getting to know each other a lot better. Very well, call me Annette.”

“Seraphina,” I respond.

“An interesting name. Are you from around here?”

“I’ve lived in the area all my life,” I say honestly.

Annette focuses her gaze upon me. I mentally ready my [Gravilance], ready to draw it out of my [Inventory] and strike against her at a moment’s notice. By now, even my body’s overrides aren’t fully functioning, and I’m unable to suppress the physiological sensations of fear creeping up on me. I still have next to no idea who she is or what she wants with me. Or… if she’s even human. Her aura doesn’t give the impression that she is… At the same time, using [Anomalous Decryption] was the reason I’m now in this mess, and I don’t really want to dig myself that much deeper by using it again.

“Some part of what you just said is a lie… I’m not sure what it is, though, and you seem to have some sort of resistance against mental attacks, so I can’t just take the information out of your head and be done here. So, I’ll make you a deal… You give me the information I seek, and I will allow you to live.”

I respond with an indignant glare. “Hold on just a moment! You come here, you start demanding things of me, making me answer your questions, refuse to answer any of my questions, and now you’re threatening me? I don’t think I should be talking to you anymore! So, I’m going to go now. It was nice meeting you, Annette.”

Annette smirks. Her eyes narrow, and her gaze, still obscured by her veil, glows an ominous red. “You aren’t going to be going anywhere, Seraphina,” she says.

I again activate [Skill Crumple] to break down whatever she was trying to do just now. This time, I follow up with [Anomalous Decryption] to see exactly who and what this person is. As her status window comes into view, I’m stunned speechless by what I see.

[[Name: Annette McConnair]

[Age: 431]

[Race: Vampire (McConnair line)]

[Level: 117; Experience: xx,xxx,xxx; To Next: xxx,xxx] [Warning: Exact Experience amounts cannot be determined by [Anomalous Decryption].]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 26,892 / 28,950; [Ether]: 25,504 / 27,906]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 97; [Speed]: 165; [Vitality]: 221; [Mind]: 381]]

I proceed to glance through the Skills she has. Most of them, as expected of her stat distribution, are magical in nature, with a particular emphasis on mind reading, mental manipulations, charming, and even one skill called [Mind Domination]. Looking through the description, I shudder. Overriding a person’s free will? Making them into a thrall, even if only temporary? I dare not assume that magic is always good, nor are the people and creatures who wield it, but I can’t see any way in which this Skill could be considered anything but evil.

In terms of a fight, Annette will have an overwhelming advantage in a protracted engagement. If she’s able to dominate me to any capacity, I’ll be finished. Her [Mind] is more than three times as high as mine, her [Ether] pool is double my own, and with the inefficiencies of [Skill Crumple], I won’t win a protracted engagement. On the other hand, her [Health] is only on par with my own, and her [Speed] and [Strength] are considerably inferior. The [Vampiric Regeneration] trait she has is annoying, but it’s recovery over time.

I can win, but I have to be swift, decisive, and merciless. And I doubt I can let her live. Something which disturbs me. Fighting and killing monsters is one thing. Even those in the Tower that appeared to have sapience; those too are just constructs given a facsimile of intelligence by whatever aspect of the System controls the Tower. But this would be fighting against a real life, living, breathing person, and to the death. Minus the living and breathing, given Annette is a vampire. But the point still stands, as do my concerns.

The other option is to run… But where would I go? She was able to track me here without much difficulty. I could go back to Substation 33, but then I’d get a lot of questions about why I was gone and why there’s a vampire chasing after me. I could try to hide… No, that won’t work for the same reason as before. Incapacitate her? I suppose that’s possible?

I’d get in a lot of trouble. But it’s self-defense, right? I’ve been trapped here and threatened. Annette spoke specifically about ‘allowing me to live’, meaning lethal force should be permissible. Assuming I understand the law correctly, which… I admit, I’m not sure I do. Magic formulae and fighting monsters is easy compared with the complexities of law and governance. In that regard, I do not envy Madison one bit for the work she has to do.

In the end, I decide to try to incapacitate her, then rush back before she can do anything about it and seek shelter in the Substation. There are enough security mechanisms that she won’t easily be able to break them, and by the time she’s there, someone stronger than me should be able to intervene. Probably.

“So, what’s it going to be, Seraphina?” Annette asks. “I pride myself on my patience, but even that has its limits. I am a busy woman, after all. Will you tell me the information I want to know, or will I need to pry it out of your semiconscious mind?”

She snarls at me. So confident, so self-assured. And yet, unlike Madison, she doesn’t have the stats and levels to truly back it up. False bravado? Or is the typical scope of power much lower than I had expected? I know I’m stronger than Flynn and Nate are, but it’s so hard to tell if they are particularly weak or if I’m actually relatively strong compared to most people.

I don’t answer. I sprout my [Etheric Wings] and pull [Gravilance] out of my [Inventory]. A single use of [Swift Foot] to temporarily double my speed, one final use of [Spell Crumple] to crush her startled, reflexive counterattack.

I pierce her stomach with my weapon, drawing inky, black blood. She grits her teeth, trying to regenerate her wounds even as my weapon remains embedded within her abdomen. But it’s pointless. [Gravilance] has a nasty additional effect, the [Gravity] effect causing miniature implosions within its target’s body. Such damage accumulates, easily overriding all but the most potent regeneration Skills. Even my [Etheric Self-Repair] couldn’t hope to outheal it, only extend the inevitable.

She lies battered from a single attack. I rush out the door, aware that I might be legally in the wrong in doing so, but desperately wanting to escape, to get back to safety, and put this whole experience behind me.

As she does, she screams and curses, saying that I will rue the day I defied her and that she’ll never forgive me and that she’ll haunt me for the rest of her immortal life. I think this is what is referred to as a ‘villainous monologue’? I don’t pay any attention to the threats. Whatever will happen later will happen. For now, I’ve had enough excitement for one day; I want to head back home and rest. Madison will be back soon, and I’m already so looking forward to it!