Chapter 187: Transparent.

『"The only thing worse than being seen is being seen through."』

"Psst!"

Amara stopped what she was doing and glanced over her shoulder, but there was nobody there.

"Psst!" The voice came again. "Over here..."

Amara’s eyes narrowed. "Sophia?"

Fiona was standing over a workstation, wearing a welding mask and working what looked like a blowtorch. Then she lifted the mask. "You say something?"

Amara looked at her. "No. Carry on."

Fiona gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up and lowered the mask. "Time to determine whether the inherent weaknesses of wendigos can be supernaturally tested and empirically corroborated."

Amara stared for a second, then continued down the corridor. Behind her, Fiona’s voice echoed through the laboratory.

"Ah... I friggin’ love Karl Popper."

Amara shook her head.

She followed Sophia’s voice until she reached an empty corridor.

"Sophia?"

"Yeah. It’s me."

Amara’s expression immediately changed. "Oh no." There was a pause. "Did you die and come back to hunt me for some reason? To help solve your own murder?"

A hand smacked against Amara’s arm. "Get real."

Amara rubbed her arm and smiled. "I’ve always wanted to do that... solve a ghost’s murder."

"Yeah?" Sophia’s voice came from somewhere beside her. "Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a recently murdered person who isn’t me."

Amara’s eyes glowed, her Intent Sight activating. The world around her shifted, revealing the faint outline of Sophia standing directly in front of her.

Amara’s eyebrows rose. "What happened?"

"I’m invisible."

Amara gave her a deadpan look. "I can see that."

"Then why did you ask?"

She tilted her head. "I mean, how did you get invisible?"

Sophia sighed. "I don’t know. Halohelm’s on the fritz, maybe?"

Amara studied her for a moment. "Did you experience anything that might explain why this happened?"

Sophia immediately became defensive. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, necessarily." Amara’s expression softened. "I’m just saying that sometimes our emotions can trigger changes in our Spirit Weapons."

Sophia was silent.

Amara continued gently. "So if there’s something you want to get off your chest, I’ll be happy to return the favor and give a listening ear."

After a moment of silence, Sophia sighed. Then she told Amara everything.

She explained what happened in the Relaxation Center, what she’d overheard, and what Hiro had said.

Sophia also went on about how she’d felt when he mentioned Fiona. And how, when Ethan was about to walk through the door, Halohelm had suddenly responded.

By the time she finished, Amara simply stared at her.

Sophia crossed her arms, though Amara could only see the faint outline of the movement.

"Fiona?" Sophia scoffed. "Pfft. He can date Fiona for all I care."

"Screw Fiona," Amara said.

"You said it, sister," Sophia agreed quickly.

Then Amara smiled. "But I don’t think you need Angel’s Bane or me to tell you that’s not really how you feel."

"I—" Sophia stopped.

Amara’s smile faded into something gentler. "Believe me. I get it." She looked down. "Lying to yourself about your feelings."

Sophia was quiet for several seconds before finally speaking. "You’re the only one who knows about my old man."

Amara looked back at her.

"And then there’s my mom." Sophia’s voice became quieter. "Everyone knows about that hot mess." She laughed bitterly. "So I don’t exactly have the best role models when it comes to relationships."

Amara shook her head. "We don’t always become who we are because of our parents."

She looked directly at Sophia’s invisible outline. "Sometimes, we become who we are despite them."

Sophia said nothing.

"And you, Sophia..." Amara smiled. "You’re a pretty damn good example of that."

Sophia’s jaw tightened. She sniffed quietly.

Amara waited a moment before adding, "And it doesn’t hurt that Hiro is a hundred percent into you."

Sophia groaned. "Oh, God..."

"But if you don’t want a relationship with him, that’s okay." Amara’s voice remained gentle. "You just have to let him move on."

Sophia went silent for a moment. "...I hear you," she said finally.

Amara’s eyes slowly returned to their normal blue, and she smiled. "And look who’s visible again."

Sophia looked down. Her entire body was visible. She stared at her hands. "...Shit."

***

Amara and Sophia returned to the laboratory, where they found Fiona hunched over a microscope.

"Amazing."

Amara approached the workstation. "What did you find?"

Fiona didn’t look away from the microscope. "His regeneration is actively fighting against the genetic mutation. Which is impressive, considering the rate at which his cells are being altered."

She adjusted the focus. "But there’s something else." Her enthusiasm faded slightly. "There are supernatural elements to the process that I can’t observe through conventional means."

Sophia stepped closer. "Can I have a look?"

Fiona shifted to the side, allowing Sophia to take her place.

Sophia leaned over the microscope. A few seconds passed.

"Crap."

Amara’s expression tightened. "What is it?"

Sophia straightened. "Fiona’s right." She glanced at Fiona. "Raj’s cells are being altered on a biological level."

Fiona nodded.

"The Juggernaut Shell is slowing the process down," Sophia continued, "but it’s not stopping it."

Amara swallowed. "So..."

Sophia looked at her. "It’s only a matter of time."

Amara grimaced. "Fish sticks." She rubbed the back of her arm. "That is really, really bad."

Her phone suddenly buzzed. Amara pulled it from her pocket and looked at the screen.

MAYA: Command Center. Director wants to see you.

She turned the screen toward Sophia. "We should go."

Sophia nodded. "Yeah."

Amara started toward the exit before stopping. She looked at Sophia. "Where’s your phone?"

Sophia stared at her. "...Fridge."

Amara blinked. "Right."

They left the laboratory, but hadn’t gone far when they nearly walked into Ethan and Hiro coming from the opposite direction.

Ethan’s expression immediately softened when he saw Amara. "Hey."

"Hey."

They fell into step together, and Amara instinctively reached for his hand. Ethan took it, their fingers interlocking naturally.

A few steps behind them, Hiro glanced toward Sophia. "Hey."

Sophia looked at him. "Hey."

They stared at each other for a second too long.

"Okay..." Hiro scratched the back of his neck. "That was weird."

Sophia looked away. "You’re weird."

Hiro frowned. "I’m weird?" He thought about it for a moment. "Okay, maybe I am. But you’re totally being the weird one right now."

Sophia sighed. "I can’t deal with this." She increased the pace of her walk.

"Wha...?" Hiro stood there for a moment, completely stunned. Then he hurried after them, muttering under his breath.

Ethan leaned closer to Amara as they walked. "What’s that all about?"

Amara glanced at Sophia and Hiro. "I’ll tell you later."

They continued toward the Command Center.

When the doors opened, they found Director Hale standing with Maya. Next to them were two very familiar figures.

Andre gave them a relaxed grin and raised a hand. "Yo."

Naomi folded her arms. Her eyes moved across the group. "Trouble..." she muttered, then sighed. "...fucking magnets."