Sienna arrives at the top level of Leone Tower. She parks her statbike in the vehicle bay and walks into the Tower, which is decorated to a blinding degree. The guards greet her and she greets them back, everything is normal in their minds. She walks through the garden which Mirra has built and finds her on the bench where she once sat with Eurus. She’s wearing a similar dress even as she was that night, this time it’s red. She’s looking up at one of the moons of Martis and sipping red wine from a wine glass. She looks almost contemplative. But she changes her demeanor immediately when she notices Sienna approaching.


    “You owe me two million Imperial credits plus my pay for the fly drone,” she says.


    “Have you ever considered how pathetic and small the Martian moons look compared to the one back on Terra?”


    “Huh?” Sienna says.


    “Yes, I’ll pay you. Give your chip,” Mirra says.


    Mirra takes the money chip from Sienna and touches her’s with it. Sienna looks at a small electronic device in her hand and she sees the transfer being completed.


    “You seem weird, quiet – is everything alright, Mirra?” Sienna asks.


    “I know that Eurus is now looking to kill me for what I did near the villa. I’m thinking whether there’s any point in running,” Mirra says.


    “You know he’s coming,” says Sienna, “Set up defenses.”


    Suddenly Mirra’s communcations device beeps and it emits a hologram after Mirra presses the correct button. In the hologram is her chief of security, who says:


    “Mirra, you’re not going to like this,” in a raspy voice.


    “Oh?” she queries.


    “Someone tripped a security wire, we can’t find anyone though, you want us to lock you down?”


    Mirra takes a pause to think. She remembers what she saw back in the Red Slum and near the Lair. She ponders what she knows about Eurus’s reputation as a Cell. She considers her options carefully. Suddenly her security chief in the hologram exclaims:


    “Oh shit! Take a look at this, Mirra!”


    Her hologram device shows clear footage of Eurus standing near an observation device and looking directly into it. She considers once again her ability to defend herself. Sienna says:


    “Mirra, we’ve gotta go right now if you want to live!”


    “I do want to live,” says Mirra, “But I don’t think I can any longer. I’m not going to have you and Diego and anyone else killed or die because of me. Stand down, Diego!”


    “Ma’am?” Diego says.


    “You heard me, Diego, stand down!”


    Mirra turns her hologram back on the camera recording Eurus’ last location but he is no longer there. She again turns her eyes towards the night sky of Papülonis and her demeanor becomes contemplative once more. She finishes her glass of remaining wine which was almost half full in one swell gulp. A sigh from Mirra and a crackle from a bush makes both women turn their sights to the source. The noise was purposeful on behalf of Eurus. Sienna reaches for her sidearm, but Mirra puts her hand on her wrist and stands up, and as Sienna looks at her, Mirra slowly shakes her head “No”.


    “How did you find us?” asks Sienna.


    “Sienna, leave us. I suspect Eurus won’t harm you?” Mirra says.


    “Of course. You’re free to go, Sienna,” Eurus says.


    Sienna looks back and forth between Eurus and Mirra, looking at the latter for a little longer. It’s as if she wants to ask “Are you absolutely 100% sure that you want me to leave you alone with him?” and she can’t, because she is all but verbally forbidden by Mirra’s and Eurus’s expressions.


    “I see,” says Mirra, “Are you here to kill me?”


    “If you were in my shoes, Mirra, what would you do?”


    “If I were in your shoes, I’d kill me, too. What I did at the villa, with the stampede… not good. I’m not proud of that.”


    Eurus takes a second to pause before continuing.


    “Why, Mirra?” asks Eurus.


    “Does it matter?”


    “It does to me,” says Eurus.


    “I wanted to gain more intelligence about you. As you know from our previous encounter, I’m fascinated by your kind, I didn’t lie about it. I’m fascinated both for professional purposes and also out of personal curiosity. I had no intentions of killing anyone today. I merely wanted to track you and see how you react to a diversion,” she says.


    “A bomb? That’s a diversion?”


    “It was set up out of spite. I didn’t expect you to overcome my seductresses with such ease,” she says, “so if you have any reason or good sense, I recommend finishing me here and now. I am at your complete mercy.”


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    “Why did you surrender?” asks Eurus.


    “Because today it became clear that any attempt to resist your approach would be utterly futile. You wanted me to know you were already inside my tower. I understood then and there that whatever option I chose either to try to fight you with my troops or to escape, you’d likely counter my actions rather easily thus I would only succeed in killing Sienna and my men. I didn’t know what you would do if I didn’t resist, so I chose that option hoping that you spare them.”


    Eurus steps closer to her, his towering figure shadowing hers. She closes her eyes, preparing for her hopefully swift demise. Instead, she hears him say:


    “I see. Well if I were one of my brothers I’d likely end you too.”


    She opens her eyes. He’s not going to kill her? Her heart pounds in her chest.


    “But?” she says.


    “I don’t want to. I know the Cell Codex compels me to remove you from the world. But something is keeping me from doing so.”


    “…” she just stares at him in disbelief, her mouth dry, trying to gulp, but she can’t as there is literally nothing to swallow.


    “For this fact, you’re a curious character as well to me,” says Eurus, “And because of this, I would like to get to know you better. So, would you care to join me for one night?? We can go anywhere you’d like.”


    “Really?” she asks with a raspy voice, “khm-khm, really?”


    “Yes, I’d like you to join me to dinner for example as a starting activity, would you like this? See where the night takes us?”


    “Yes,” she says. She can’t believe it. She keeps thinking about how she was ready to be shot in the head or her neck pulled out like he did that other night. She can’t believe that a Cell, an actual living, Machine Revolt beating honest-to-God super soldier would extend her such an invitation. One thought does cross her mind.


    “Eurus,” she says, “doesn’t the Codex forbid you from taking wives or socializing with crime lords?”


    “It does.”


    “So what is this?”


    “The Codex is up for interpretation in some contexts. I suspect I don’t have to fear manipulation on your behalf anymore?”


    “Of course.”


    “Did I ask you to marry me?”


    “Not yet,” she says.


    “Then are we good?”


    “Yes,” she says, “except…”


    “Yes?” Eurus asks.


    “Are you really going to wear that? I fear body armor will spoil the appetite for some.”


    “It’s removable, see?” Eurus presses a button on his leather armor and it unclamps from around him, revealing a costume more suited for a night out. She joins him and takes his arm. Eurus leads her to the one the vehicle bays across the chasm in another building where this time there isn’t a standard issue Cell Circuit stat bike, but instead a regular car (that can fly). Regular not being the operative word – it’s a race car type vehicle from Cell HQ, the Phoenix Nova which is fast enough to catch up to a space-bound star vehicle.


    “Wow – I didn’t know normal people like me were allowed to ride these things?” she asks.


    “In a sense, that is true, but we are allowed to choose who we allow in here when the moment arises. I would like to share a moment with you,” Eurus says.


    “Aww… Here I was expecting a bullet to the back of my skull. Color me surprised,” she says.


    Eurus is surprised how quickly she reacts to a change in his demeanor which would go unnoticed to any other observer. She IS very smart as is apparent from their conversation during their walk to the other building and her immediate recognition of even the slightest of his feelings.


    They sit in the car and Eurus roars through the city at great speed, clearly meant to perhaps frighten Mirra with his skills. She remains calm at first but Eurus’ superhuman reflexes allow him to make riskier maneuvers as their journey continues towards his chosen restaurant. He can hear however as each three-dimensional turn and near-miss increases in intensity that her heart beat is again going up. Instead of capturing a look of terror on her face, he sees her subtly smirking. Is she enjoying this?


    In Mirra’s mind, she can’t believe her life. Not only is she alive and not executed in her garden, she’s out with someone who extends an invitation into their character. She’s not begging for mercy but instead about to go to dinner with a super soldier. She’s no longer obsessed with Eurus the Cell however like she once was. New feelings about this being are being stirred inside her. She’s honored that he would almost ignore his Codex for her. A creeping feeling of affection is forming in the deepest pits of her sculpted stomach. She’s not just lusting for the demigod on her left, but instead she’s growing very slightly fond of the man she at least thinks she sees in him.


    Their night of dinner, walks all over the city and skips behind the curtain and beneath the beautiful surface of Papülonis flies by with a constant back and forth as if trying to best each other in fencing. Unlike their previous encounters, Eurus doesn’t have to keep his guard up as much and finds that giving into her jousting isn’t as dangerous as he thought. As a matter of fact, he enjoys it more than he expected. This woman, this criminal mastermind giggling and cackling like a schoolgirl next to him.


    For Mirra, the night is also a moment of transformation. From his nigh infinite well of combat knowledge, deep understanding of the world around him and an ocean of wealth about people due to his centurous age, she realizes that his Codex, however rigid can indeed be bent. However it’s not as easy as simply ignoring all the rules. According to Eurus, one must learn how to live by every rule first in order to know when to break them. If you know the limits of your morals and ethics and guidelines then you know when you’ve gone past them. By not having them at all, she learns from him, is bound to have her end up in a situation like she did earlier that day when she caused the stampede in the Red Slum. She doesn’t have to run from any life of crime when she adopts a rigid set of principles and learns to behave according to them, and only when they have been calcified inside her brain and memories can she choose to ignore them. This will inevitably happen only after she has escaped her life of lawbreaking.


    They glide into the restaurant, an extravagant establishment perched on the edge of a megastructure. Even for the wealthy patrons, these added guests turn their heads as they can’t help but look at them – the criminal royalty Mirra and the legendary demigod Eurus. The city stretches below their table, its neon lights and dots of light whizzing by like luminescent ants, each car busy with their own lives. Mirra and Eurus sit across the table from each other. For a moment, neither says a word. She can’t help but smile, still dazed from the cocktail of fear and joy from before.


    “Something on your mind?” Eurus asks, noticing her.


    “Ah, nothing at all,” Mirra says, “Right now I’m focusing on my eyes.”


    “Hmh,” Eurus lets out a chuckle.


    “The gift of life beats any pearl necklace,” she continues, “And well… You…”


    “Me, what?” Eurus asks, noticing her pause.


    “Just you.”


    After dining, they’re sitting side by side, admiring the sunset on Mars. Mirra gently rests her head on Eurus’ shoulder. She says:


    “What now?”


    “I don’t know. I’ve never done something like this before,” Eurus says.


    “It’s new for me too. Well, no need to rush things,” Mirra responds.


    “One day I’ll give you more.”


    “Oh?”


    “You’ll see. When the time’s right.”


    When she arrives at her palace, Mirra’s head is still spinning, but her heart remains still. She feels excited at the dawn of her new relationship, but strangely relaxed as well. Slowly strolling through her quarters, she starts thinking about how she can live up to Eurus’ standard even if he doesn’t expect her to. Finally, she doesn’t feel like she needs to beat the world down to live. She no longer needs to run.