Cat Lady and Burnt Sofa

Still unsure of how safe the recently unsealed door was, both Richard and Lilianna advanced closer to the entrance.

Before they could reach it, though, a mature-looking lady with cat ears on her head opened said door holding an old cellphone like what Lily had.

“Do you two plan on killing me of boredom or you came to save us?”

“So this weird puzzle was all your doing, Zhelya…”

“Missed me, my boy?”

The lady with thirty or so years of apparent age smiled at the two armed visitors as she said so, and they both lowered their guns right after.

Zhelya had golden eyes, caramel-colored hair with blonde streaks braided in a ponytail, and on top of it, cat ears and tail on the same color scheme.

She was wearing a buttoned lab coat that was a little too tight for her body and she seemed to be using an eastern dress beneath it.

Her clothes or appearance weren't what Amy was focusing on though.

The lady had a much more eye-catching detail in the form of a very large and unwieldy-looking collar that should be some sort of device.

“Not really, but a VIP is a VIP, even when she's weirder than usual.”

Now assured that nothing dangerous was inside the room, Richard lowered his guard and brushed off Zhelya’s question.

Seeing how the security chief had returned his rifle to the straps on his back, Lily also calmed down and stowed her gun. “Is this the chief researcher you said earlier?”

“Yes, she’s…”

“The name is Zhelya Avantlain, milady.”

Cutting through Richard’s words and advancing until she was in touching range for Lily, the cat-eared scientist presented herself with a curtsy and an extended hand.

The actions of the older lady only confused Lily as she was instead focused on how tall this Zhelya was. “My name is Lilianna and not 'milady', but I don’t have enough energy for another discussion like this one.”

“My apologies then.”

With her apology, Lily went for what she thought would be a handshake only to instead receive a kiss on her hand.

Weirdly enough, this action drew reactions from Amy and Richard but did little to the target herself. “What the hell was that?” Reacted the annoyed detective with her hands still apprehended.

“What? No reaction?”

“Seems like your usual antics won’t work with everyone, eh? You even got more forward lately” commented Richard while smugly smiling at Zhelya.

He also quietly pushed her away from Lily, but that was beyond the point.

“They still work much more than yours, don’t they?” Countered the scientist, breaking the smile on her opponent’s face right away.

“That’s because I have common sense.”

“Is that so? I think you're way too cautious and that's it. You even ignored the few matches our late president settled to you...”

“My relationships would go well if you didn’t spend half your free time seducing them, you retrofitted hag!”

“Oh? I did that...?”

“Can the both of you focus on our situation, please?”

Both members of the useless bickering stopped in place as they heard, and almost felt, the level of annoyance in Lily’s voice.

Each one of them cleared their throats and then turned around as if nothing had happened, all the while with Amy watching from a safe distance. “Aham! Sorry for that, Lilianna. We’re not in a good place to bicker.”

“Just don’t do it too much, ok?” Dismissed the black-haired lady while trying to return to the main subject. “Now, Zhelya, I got the gist of what happened here, but if you could fill in the specifics…”

“I don’t think I have much to say about it, milady...” Answered the cat lady with a pensive look. “We heard the explosion. our chief of security gave some orders. I found it all too strange when an hour passed and nothing new was said. Our computers started to act weird, the elevator got locked and so, I ordered everyone to break them down and hide with as much food as possible.”

“Just by gut feeling?”

“I never rely on something random as a gut feeling. And being safer is always better in a lab.”

“She can be weird, but Zhelya isn’t NorCo’s chief researcher for nothing. She’s one of the biggest geniuses still active in the cities and possibly the biggest one of them all in both robotics and computation.”

“One of the biggest is a downplay, but I’ll still acknowledge your compliment, my boy. I’m also a specialist in VR technology and most of the currently used devices were made by me, you see? My new project is about using the weird tech from those ruins to make nanomachines, but it’s advancing poorly…”

“I see…”

Her mix of bragging and presenting herself sent Lily into a pensive mood.

If Zhelya was so good with computers and robots while also having access to the mainframe of the tower, then she was the most capable suspect she had. Although the cat lady had the capabilities, the detective was failing to find any for why she would start such an attack. “Hey, cat lady!” Called the idol from a good distance away from the conversation. “You trusted us and broke the seals of the room just because our friend security man was here?”

Amy was fiddling with the remains of the production device in the middle of the ruined room, forcing the machine to go back online without much work.

At least it was what two of the three people looking towards her were thinking, but her movements had drawn the eyes of the cat-eared scientist. “Ara… Hello there, little idol. You seem to be more than I expected by now, and I’ve been watching your trail even if I couldn’t see you.”

“You are a fan of mine then?”

“Pretty much so." She confirmed while opening a huge smile. "Would you mind doing a private show though? I would love to see what secrets you have in these clothes of yours…”

“It depends on who is requesting and what is the payment.”

Both females on different sides of the height scale started to stare and smile at each other.

Between them both, Richard and Lilianna watched the scene unfold with weirded-out eyes though.

“Are they, like, flirting or something?” Whispered Richard while trying to avoid direct eye contact.

“I’m not sure, but Amy once said that she’s disallowed by some made-up law of having romantic relationships, so it shouldn't be that.”

“A made-up law?”

“Don’t ask me, ask the pink thing.”

“I don't think I will…”

“Now that’s a smart choice.”

While both people with some common sense whispered between themselves, a cup filled with some pink-colored beverage left the device and arrived in Amy’s hands.

Now that she had her drink though, the idol soon broke eye contact with Zhelya and focused on it. “Anyway, I do not recommend walking around a VR device like this one, cat lady. The connections are very dangerous since…”

“Since you could rewrite a person’s memories with the direct connection with the brain and the overly invasive system used by our products?” Cut in the scientist, explaining what Amy was planning to say before she could do anything.

“Yes, that is exactly why.”

"I have my countermeasures, you know? This device is way too useful to not be used, even if someone appears to have noticed the danger and sent a very weird letter to explain it some days ago..."

The answer was so lacking that Lily, the only member of the outside duo who could somewhat understand something that was being said, took a good while to react to the words she have heard.

In fact, if the word "danger" hadn't been used, she wouldn't have paid enough attention to notice the applications of such a device. “Wait there, you two! What the hells is this ‘rewriting memories’ thing about?”

"Let me explain, Lily," the idol started while approaching the other members. "The newest VR devices are much better at simulating data on the brain, but they can also be used to modify and add said data. One would need an extremely powerful computer and heaps of energy to do so, but it is possible still."

“That’s just as you heard, milady. NorCo’s current VR devices are based on some ‘abnormal’ technology found on a special site we managed to uncover some good months before anyone else. It's much more advanced than any other, but we don't really get them... We weren't sure at first, but now we know that it can be used as a conversation tool to collect and implant information though.”

“So you’re saying…?” Asked the incredulous detective.

“We packed a few thousands of possibly brainwashing devices to the world and sold them to anyone rich enough to buy? Of course not! I made sure to manage some countermeasures and have them installed beforehand.”

"If the countermeasures are overwritten, then it could still be used. It will not be brainwashing unless you have a cold fusion engine just to power the massive computer though." Amy continued while sipping her smoothie. "It would be a complicated and time-consuming process, but you could change the behavior of someone with the right suggestions."

"That's exactly as our cutie here said. I only know a handful of people who could even understand this much, so you would need a genius or someone with a few lifetimes of free time to pull it off. I could easily do it though."

There was a smile full of confidence, and some mischief, on the tall lady’s face as she was saying.

Other than her though, no one could manage or wanted to, in Amy's case, comment on her remarks, so she continued talking. “This function is very useful for me though since I can do twice the work by doing research inside VR and in real life at the same time, you know?" She proclaimed while tapping the device on her neck. "I can work in VR and then sync the information later between the device and my brain. It could also help in developing a synthetic human if you uploaded a whole brain, but that’s a little too illegal and costly for me to mess with...”

With the nonchalant explanation done, Zhelya went to the now functional food dispenser in the middle of the room and started to use it too.

Both her and Amy's actions only furthered the utter disbelief on Lily’s face and the confused smile on Richard’s, who was the first to comment something.

“Damn, I knew our science department was a coven of crazy bastards, but that’s a little…”

“I made sure to fill a complaint when I found out, you see? I even modified devices to make them safe for Lily...” Commented the idol, seemingly unaware of how over-the-top were her words.

“So that was you?! Half our investors tried to chew me up when they saw that little letter, and not in a good way!”

“I need to think a little...” Gave up Lily while moving away and plopping herself on the, for some reason, burned ruins of a sofa.

“I’ll… I’ll keep watch on the stairs just in case.”

“What about getting the few friends around here to you guys ‘safe floor’ then? We aren’t a fighting force…”

“I think it would be a good idea to…” started to answer Richard only to be forced to stop halfway through.

“What?!" Amy suddenly exclaimed in surprise while Richard was talking.

Without further explanation, she ignored the questions in the other's expressions and instead bit her lip before continuing as if talking with herself.

"We were detected earlier than expected? It seems so... How can it…”

"Amy?" Lily asked with a mix of curiosity and confusion covering her face, but her answer didn't do much to solve these.

“Sorry about it, but I require you all to hold this floor for a while before we can leave. We have incoming enemies from outside.”

"What do you mean, Amy?!" Lilianna continued even if she now could deduce a little of what was happening.

"I believe someone was keeping an eye on this room and noticed our arrival sooner than I expected, you see? A host of robots is approaching fast and I do not think the reinforced windows will hold them forever..."

Amy’s abnormally serious remarks drew the attention of all three other occupants of the room to the recently unsealed passages.

Before they could even check those though, shouts from the dozen or so scientists still around were heard together with the sound of metal crashing against the fortified glass of the windows. Whatever was after them had arrived already, but Amy would solve it, no matter how much of her persona she lost on the way.