Betrayal, Pt. 2

Still in New Tokyo. Still on the grind. Her voice was becoming hoarse. Lozenges won't do. She'd need the nanobots again sometime soon.

Lena sat cross-legged on the couch, Cloud sprawled across her lap, his purring a soft vibration against her chest. Maya paced the room, her jacket slung over one shoulder, her movements quick but aimless.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” Lena said, her tone lighter than she felt.

Maya stopped mid-step, glancing over at her. “Sorry. I just... I don’t know how to fix this.”

“Who says it’s ours to fix?” Lena replied, her hand stilling against Cloud’s fur.

Maya frowned, sitting down heavily on the armrest of the couch. “That’s a convenient excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse,” Lena said evenly, meeting her gaze. “Elise isn’t someone we can just patch up and send back out there. She’s not a broken circuit. I just don’t think it will go well with her; at all.”

Maya’s frown deepened, but she didn’t argue. Her hand moved absently to the edge of her jacket, picking at a loose thread. “You’ve seen her, though. She’s... I don’t know. Spiraling even further.”

Lena nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“So what do we do?”

For a moment, Lena didn’t reply. Her fingers traced the edge of the feather in her pocket, its smooth surface grounding her. “We talk to her,” she said finally. “Both of us. Together.”

Maya blinked, caught off guard. “You think that’ll help?”

“I think it’s a start. She needs to know we see her. That she’s not just... fading into the background.”

Maya hesitated, her fingers curling into the fabric of her jacket. “And what if that’s not enough?”

“It might not be,” Lena admitted, her voice steady. “But it’s better than standing around pretending we don’t notice.”

Maya leaned back slightly, studying Lena carefully. “You’ve thought about this.”

“Of course I have,” Lena replied, a faint edge to her voice. “This isn’t just happening to her. It’s all of us, Maya. We’re all tired.”

Maya nodded, her expression unreadable. “Okay,” she said finally. “We’ll talk to her. Whatever you think is best.”

Lena tilted her head slightly, her gaze narrowing. “You’re agreeing too easily. What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” Maya said quickly, standing and smoothing her jacket. “I just... I trust you, okay?”

Lena raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further.

HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!HOTWIRED!

The dressing room felt airless, though the faint hum of the city outside crept in through the walls. Elise sat hunched on the couch, her hands limp on her lap. She wasn’t quite looking at Lena or Maya, her gaze fixed somewhere between them and the floor, her posture taut like a bowstring about to snap.

Lena leaned against the edge of the table, arms crossed, her knuckles pressing into her ribs. She looked at Maya, who stood just behind her, fidgeting slightly. Maya wasn’t pacing or making noise—she was just there, unusually still.

“Elise,” Lena began, her voice careful. “We wanted to talk.”

Elise blinked, finally lifting her head to look at them. Her face was pale, her eyes dull. “What about?”

Maya hesitated, then stepped forward. “About the set,” she said softly. “We’ve been talking—Lena and I—and we think...” Her voice faltered, but she pushed on. “We think it might help if I took over a couple of your sections. Just temporarily.”

Elise’s brow furrowed. She sat up straighter, her hands curling into the couch. “What?”

“It’s not permanent,” Lena said quickly, stepping in. “We’re just thinking of ways to take some of the pressure off you, give you space to breathe. That’s all this is.”

Elise stared at them, her mouth opening slightly as if she were about to speak, but no words came out. Her eyes flicked to Maya. “You agreed to this?”

Maya nodded, her throat tightening. “I did. But only because I thought—”

“You thought,” Elise interrupted, her voice low but trembling with barely restrained anger. “You thought what? That I couldn’t handle it?”

Maya flinched. “No, that’s not—”

“Then what is it?” Elise snapped, her voice rising slightly. “Because that’s what it feels like. That’s what it always feels like.”

Elise let out a shaky breath, her hands tightening into fists. “You think this helps? Hearing this? From both of you? I feel like I have to say yes, like I have no choice. Because you’re Astra. And you’re Maya. And I’m just... here.”

“That’s not—” Maya started, but Elise cut her off.

“It is,” she said, her voice breaking. “It is. And the worst part is I know you’re doing this because you care. But it still hurts. It hurts because you’re making decisions for me, because you’re looking at me like I’m a glass ornament waiting to shatter on the ground.”

“You are good enough,” Lena said, her voice quiet but firm.

Elise’s head snapped toward her, her eyes glinting with anger and something else. “Then why don’t I feel it? Why do I feel like a fraud every time I step onstage? Why do I feel like no matter what I do, it’s not enough?”

Lena hesitated, her chest tightening. She glanced at Maya, who looked just as shaken, then back at Elise. “I can’t answer that,” Lena said finally. “But I know that pushing through it alone doesn’t make it better. Let us take some of the weight, Elise. Just for a while.”

Elise shook her head, her breath hitching. “It doesn’t feel like that, Maya. It feels like you’ve already decided I can’t do this. And maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t.”

“No,” Lena said sharply, stepping forward. “You can. You’ve proven it over and over again. But you don’t have to prove it every second of the day. Let us give you room to breathe. Not because you’re weak, but because we want you to keep going.”

Elise exhaled shakily, her hands falling to her sides. “I’ll do it,” she said quietly. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. But don’t ask me to pretend it doesn’t hurt. Because it does. It really, really does.”

The room fell silent. Maya wiped at her eyes quickly, her fingers brushing against her jacket.

"You don't have to. If you don't want to. I am sorry."

"I... I know I haven't done anything amazing this tour, unlike Kiko. Shit, on the Net, everyone's... you know. So I get it." Elise nodded faintly, her gaze dropping to the floor. "Sorry, I need some air."

She walked out the room promptly after.

Maya leaned against the edge of the dressing room counter, her reflection flickering in the holo-mirror. The faint hum of the stage beyond barely registered in her ears. She stared at her hands, her knuckles white from gripping the edge too tightly.

“You didn’t mean to,” Lena said softly.

Maya turned toward her, her eyes glassy. “Does that matter? I should’ve known better. She’s my friend. I am not fucking HR. Friends don’t do that to each other.”