Chapter 186: You Can’t See Me.

『"New faces. Old feelings."』

In the quiet of the Relaxation Center, Hiro paced around the foosball table while Ethan stood near the flat screen at the front of the room. Neither had said much since entering.

Sophia, meanwhile, had other priorities.

She opened the refrigerator and placed her phone in it before rummaging through the shelves.

After a moment, she pulled out a carton of orange juice. "I’ll be taking this."

Hiro looked over. "You know that’s communal, right?"

Sophia ignored him, taking a long drink straight from the carton.

"And I’ll also be taking a long, nice shower." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "So nobody bother me for the next..." She glanced at the clock. "...two hours."

She walked out with the orange juice in hand, and the door closed behind her.

In the silence, Hiro waited a few seconds. "So..."

Ethan glanced at him. "So?"

"What do you think about Fiona?"

Ethan’s eyebrow rose.

Hiro stepped away from the foosball table. "I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think I was picking up a little vibe there."

"First of all, she’s six years older than you."

Hiro shrugged. "So?"

"Secondly, is now really a good time to be talking about this?"

"Come on, man." Hiro sighed and stopped moving. "I’d talk to Raj, but..."

Ethan sighed as well and finally sat down. He waited a few seconds before speaking. "You’re right. There was a vibe."

Hiro immediately sat in a chair opposite Ethan.

"But I thought you were into Sophia?" Ethan continued. "Or has that changed?"

Hiro sat there for a moment before answering. "Dude, I’m crazy about her."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "But if Raj can move on from Naomi, then maybe I can too. Especially since Sophia clearly isn’t interested."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think?"

Hiro leaned forward. "What?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did she tell you something?"

Ethan stared at him. "You really think Sophia would talk to me about her feelings?"

Hiro paused. "Okay. When you put it that way..." He leaned back again. "But you know what? I bet Amara knows something."

Hiro turned toward Ethan with a hopeful, almost conspiratorial expression. "Could you maybe just—"

"No."

Hiro blinked. "Could’ve let me finish."

"I know what you were going to ask."

Hiro sighed and nodded. "You’re right. You’re right. I need to stop pining." He paused. "Besides, I think there might actually be something there with Fiona."

Ethan stood and stretched. "Good for you, man." He started walking toward the exit.

"Speaking of Raj’s new love interest..." Hiro called after him. "You think I should reach out on his behalf? Let her know—" He snapped his fingers. "What’s her name again?"

"Jessica."

"Jessica." Hiro nodded. "Right." He looked at Ethan. "Should I let Jessica know what’s currently going on with Raj? Y’know, the Raj sitch."

Ethan stopped at the doorway and looked back. "If I told you that was a terrible idea, would you go ahead and do it anyway?"

A mischievous smile spread across Hiro’s face. "You know me so well."

Ethan grinned and stepped through the door.

Hiro watched him leave. "So I’ll just text Jessica for Raj, yeah?"

The door closed.

Hiro waited for a moment, then nodded to himself. "Yeah..." He stood. "Probably should find his phone first."

And so began Hiro’s search for Raj’s phone.

***

Sophia was already halfway down the corridor when she stopped.

"Ugh." She frowned. Her phone. She’d left it in the refrigerator.

"Shit."

She turned around and headed back toward the Relaxation Center, orange juice still in hand.

By the time she reached the door, she had already pulled out her key card and raised it toward the scanner. Then she heard her name and froze.

"...But I thought you were into Sophia?"

Her hand remained suspended inches from the scanner. She hadn’t intended to listen. She’d only stopped because she’d heard her own name.

Inside, Hiro answered. "Dude, I’m crazy about her."

Sophia’s breath caught. Her fingers tightened around the carton of orange juice. She simply stood there, her heartbeat suddenly becoming far too loud.

Goddamnit... She swallowed.

Then Hiro spoke again. "But if Raj can move on from Naomi, then maybe I can too. Especially since Sophia clearly isn’t interested."

Sophia’s grip tightened further, and the carton crumpled slightly beneath her fingers.

Fucking Idiot.

She wasn’t sure whether she was thinking about Hiro or herself. Probably both.

She should leave. Instead, she stayed.

She listened as Hiro talked about moving on. Then she heard another name.

"Fiona."

Sophia’s eyebrows drew together. Fiona? She continued listening.

The conversation shifted toward Amara, Hiro’s suspicion that she knew something, and eventually his admission that there might actually be something between him and Fiona.

Sophia’s expression became increasingly difficult to read.

Fiona? Are you kidding me?

She looked down at the crushed carton in her hand. She hadn’t realized she’d been squeezing it that hard.

Inside, Ethan finally stood. Sophia heard his footsteps approaching the door, and her eyes widened. He was coming out.

She glanced toward the corridor. No way around it. Ethan was coming out, and then Hiro would know she’d been listening in.

"Shit."

Halohelm suddenly materialized around her head, and Sophia froze. A strange sensation crawled across her skin, spreading from her head down through her body.

When she looked down, her fingers were disappearing.

"What the—?"

Her hand flickered. Then her arm. Eventually, the rest of her body.

Sophia stared in disbelief as the rest of her body vanished.

At that exact moment, the door opened.

Ethan stepped through, and Sophia stood perfectly still as he walked straight past her, the door closing behind him.

He stopped a few inches in front of Sophia and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm..."

For a second there, he seemed to consider something. Then he shrugged and kept walking.

After a moment of silence, Sophia exhaled the breath she’d been holding and slowly raised her hands. She was still invisible.

"...Fuck me..."

***

The Alpha Beam flared to life in the Sun branch’s teleportation room, and two figures materialized within the circle of light.

Naomi stepped forward first. She glanced around the unfamiliar facility, then folded her arms. "Well, this place looks depressing."

Andre emerged behind her, his hands casually tucked into his pockets. "Looks okay to me. I can’t believe this is our first time here."

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Everything looks okay to you."

Andre smiled.

Naomi sighed and looked toward the corridor ahead. "Konstantin said they need help with some wendigo problem?"

"That’s what he said." Andre acknowledged one of the agents working in the Alpha Beam Zone with a casual chin-up.

"And he couldn’t send someone else?" Naomi folded her arms. "Not that I’m not amazing, but I’m pretty sure there are more qualified Awakeners for this."

"I’ll admit, we’re still students of the Machine," Andre said. "But we’ve got something no one else at our branch has. That’s why the Director sent us."

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "And what’s that?"

Andre grinned. "Experience working with the Five."

Naomi clicked her tongue. "Gimme a break."

Andre shrugged. "I’m just saying..."

The two started walking. After a few steps, Andre glanced at her. "You nervous?"

Naomi scoffed. "About what?"

"Seeing Raj."

She stopped, and some of the irritation left her expression.

"...Shut the fuck up, Andre."

Andre smiled. "Wasn’t a no."

Naomi resumed walking. "Keep talking and I’ll leave you here."

Andre hastened his steps to catch up. "Fair enough."

They rounded the corner and came across a young woman standing a short distance ahead, her blonde hair tied into a ponytail.

She typed rapidly on her tablet, her green eyes darting across the screen at a frankly absurd speed before she looked up as they approached. "There you are."

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

Andre leaned closer to Naomi, lowering his voice. "That’s Maya O’Sullivan. Youngest graduate of the Machine."

"Director Mikhail let us know you were coming." Maya turned and gestured down the corridor. "Director Hale will see you now."

Andre nodded. "Lead the way."

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

SOPHIA DELGADO | The Helmet

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spirit Weapon: Halohelm (Helmet of Victory)

Rank: Shaper

Ascendant Sigil: ▮▮ (2 Bars - Left Temple)

Abilities Unlocked:

┣ Telepathy

┣ Telekinesis

┣ Empathy

┣ Psychometry

┣ Precognition

┣ Illusion Creation

┣ Invisibility

┣ ??? [LOCKED]

Status: Confused, Worried, Flustered