All she could see was darkness, light flashing behind her eyelids.
The words of whomever didn't reach her ears—everything was muffled and loud all at once.
She felt something press into her sternum, and a moment later—pain shot through her chest, her eyes snapping wide open.
"Hands off!"
Pushing him off, her vision swam through the shapes blurring together. Gasps slipping out of her as the man tried to speak.
"—?"
The man's voice blurred into a single, continuous sound. She tried to stand—only for her legs to give way. She hit the cramped floor face first, her shoulder jerking when her jacket caught on something, yanking her sideways.
"Cuidado lady, let me he—"
She pushed the hands away and the man stepped back. Her dark blue hair slid across the ground, hued with faint wine. Her eyes dilated, her blurry vision fading. She swallowed nothing before forcing out her words.
"Where am I?"
She felt a vibration coming from her wrist but ignored it, grabbing the gurney beside her and standing up carefully. Her head thumped. Her palms ached, her joints exhausted before she flexed her free hand.
"In an ambulance."
The man said, his wheat-colored hair gleaming under the cabin lights. A shiver ran through her from the chill.
Something hanging from her hip let out a low, sharp whistle. Metal vibrated—far too loud in the moment, the cabin amplifying it before the sound tapered off a second later. The cabin began to warm when a hand shoved itself into her face.
"I cant let you do that, you would be damaging sensitive stuff."
His tone, flatness above all.
"And you'd be billed for it."
She only stared at the paramedic, looking past their glasses and into their eyes, her grip on the gurney loosening. The ambiance neither rose nor settled.
She backed off, lifting herself onto the gurney. Her knees throbbed, popping under her weight before she sank slightly into the orange pad, which let out a muffled groan of its own.
"How long...was I out?"
She asked, her body easing enough for her spine to curve gently. The paramedic leaned in, a gloved hand extending toward her neck—holding his gaze for a long second.
"Veinte—twenty minutes since we arrived. Puedo...?"
She furrowed her brows and turned her head to the side. She felt something taken out, then straightened herself.
The man pulled back with something clenched in his grasp, then spun around on a stool—doing whatever it was paramedics did, something she couldn't bring herself to care about.
She looked down at the back of her hand, too exhausted to do anything else. It was covered in small bandages. The bracelet around her wrist buzzed again.
She stayed quiet, her eyes drifting to the little white pouch resting on her thigh. She stared at it until the man spun her way.
"tá bien todo, nothing broken except for mild pain yes?"
The man finally spoke, a few things resting in his hand. A thought crossed her mind while her tired gaze lingered on his tinted glasses.
"I...I want out."
Her voice—assertive, the crash of adrenaline already settling in her blood. The man only nodded. He turned to his side and opened a cabinet. Pulling out a few things, reaching over the desk for a tablet, pressing at the screen, then turning everything toward her.
"Just sign...right...here."
He tapped at the bottom of the screen for every enunciated word, ignoring the text above it. She raised a hand—
One of the bandages on her finger had peeled just enough for the small, glossy rock stuck in her skin to shimmer under the light.
She signed her name, scrolling down with a light swipe and hit accept. The man picked up the few items and set them beside her while the screen finished loading.
One of the bandages on her finger peeled back just enough for the small, glossy rock protruding from her skin to shimmer under the light.
Ping!~
She peeled her gaze from the rock. A list of notifications dropped down the wall behind the man, off to the side, cutting into her field of view. The top notice took center, loading quickly.
The discharge and refusal form—the one she had just sighed over. She gave it a brief peek before looking away, the notice fading right after. Her hands reached for the small pile beside her, pulling everything together and slipping it into the white pouch.
She swung her legs over and slid off the gurney, her shoes hitting the floor before taking a quick inventory. Her fingers moved over her pockets and the panel on her right, counting softly under her breath.
"Didn't touch anything."
The paramedic muttered without looking up, catching his breath midway.
"Si falta algo, así te encontré."
The patter of rain outside seeped into her ears, the steady tapping on the roof. Raindrops sliding down the windows. She caught her jacket, sliding down one shoulder, and pushed it on without a second thought.
Glancing over her shoulder, she found the man typing on his tablet. She reached behind her back for the hoodie and slid it over her head.
"Open it."
Without a word, he leaned sideways and hit a button, the locks releasing with a solid thunk. Her hands found the tufts of feathers on her head—painted a dark amber with the occasional spotted white and brown. She grasped two clips on the hoodie and pinched her tufts with them.
She turned to the rear doors, grabbed the handle, and pushed down. Wind howled through the sudden gap, cold wet air rushing inside. She hopped out, the soles of her shoes slapping against the wet concrete that barely kept her from falling.
Flashing orange lights reflected on the puddles. Around her, red and blue lights washed across her body and eyes.
The rain hit her harder than she expected, narrowing her eyes.
She spun around, searching for the rest of her gear. Its size made it easy to spot, even with the downpour hammering her. The ambulance's rear doors slammed shut on their own, the thump in her head fading at the same moment.
The clear hoodie gave her an unobstructed view in every direction. She took a few steps forward before an icon appeared in the distance. Wind pushed against the jacket, the white wool underneath soaking through and weighing her down even more.
The faint icon that appeared ahead—shaped like a simple extinguisher.
It drifted farther, moving like something tugged it across the ground. A thin line connected it to her gear, almost lost behind the droplets.
She pushed through until only a few feet remained between them. Her eyes landed on the figure dragging it, visibly struggling. The icon faded away while her steps echoed around them, slow and heavy.
"What are you doing?"
Her voice was barren of most emotion—too tired to be mad, too exhausted to raise it.
"Go away! I found it first!"
The voice cracked—young and rough, forcing itself to sound older. She kept moving without pause.
"Move or I'll make you."
Her tone turned irritated when the figure ignored her, her patience thinning by the second. She clicked her tongue, and her bracelet began vibrating once more, souring her mood even further.
"I said...move!"
She kicked the person square in the shoulder, sending them stumbling into the wet street. Her leg snapped at them again like the thunder high above, frustration driving her foot.
"Ack!"
They stumbled backward, clutching their arm as their hoodie slid off. Her expression didn't change. She met their eyes and dismissed the panic in their stare. A malnourished teenager. That was all it was—ranting about the unfairness.
step.
The figure dragged themselves backward through the rain, then turned and bolted into the night—somewhere she didn't care about. She dropped to one knee and looked through her gear. It looked the same as she remembered, the only difference being the rain.
Grey in tone and slightly glossy, some areas more worn than others. She pushed the satin cloth draped over it all and rummaged through the small pouch, its faded brown color catching the light as she dug through it, the contrast sharp against the mostly red next to it.
WRAA—WRAA—!
Her hands froze at the blare of a siren. She lifted her head and a pair of headlights flashed in quick succession through the rain, her silhouette casting long shadows.
She slowly rose to her feet, ignoring the rest of the items pressed flat on the ground. Each piece remained connected to her gear, washed in the headlights.
The back of her head throbbed, and the object on the ground let out a light groan before lifting off the pavement in a quick rise. It bobbed up and down like a living beast, then settled behind her. Its barrel angling downward, it's body hid behind her while her mind churned.
I can't do anything. They already saw it—theirs no point in hiding...it'd only make it worse.
The back of her head throbbed, and her gear let out a light groan before lifting off the pavement in a soft rise. It bobbed up and down like a living beast, then settled behind her. Its barrel angled downward, its body tucked behind her while her mind churned.
FSSHH—!
Ah!—my eyes, you damn imbécil!
The bright, sudden glare forced her to raise one arm, covering her face. A feeling like she could burn into the concrete rose in her, the urge to cave the driver's face in coursied through her heart.
She stepped cautiously toward the driver's side, the front window rolling down a little. The street stayed mostly empty, with only a few cruisers and the lone ambulance nearby.
"Tantos problemas causantes y como me las vas a pagar. How?"
Disinterested.
She couldn't see the face behind it and she didn't care to. The indifference was mutual, a relief.
She stood there, staring through the window while she dug into the dark brown panel on her left, hanging from her belt. Her fingers brushed against a smooth surface, a bundle of a kind.
She tossed it through the gap. It hit the floorboard, followed by a brief ruffle inside.
"Five...do what you want with them."
The window slid upward afterward, the driver's command echoing through the closing gap.
"Back off."
step...step...step...
The cruiser rolled forward to join the other two at the far end of the street. She let out a sigh through the rain. Her soaked shoes dragged her down. The cold drizzle eased her nerves just enough to face the rest of her worries.
She looked over her shoulder at her kit hiding in her silhouette—its shape barely visible, lit only by the moons above. Her fist clenched in frustration and a single thought pushed through her mind.
⌞Perception.⌝
Its figure began to distort slightly.
She shifted her gaze forward and stepped off, leaving the street for another, doing the same two more times.
Lifting her left hand—the one with the bracelet, she turned it on with a simple tap. An opaqued screen materialized above it, and its curved edges pulled in the light while she brought up the map.
Shoes splashed through shallow puddles, cars cut through the rain and washed the sidewalk in dirty water they never glanced at her stuff but at the clothes she wore.
People passed by beside her silhouette like if it were her. A man nearly walked straight into it, veering aside at the last moment The night, a blanket for her weary spirit.
A few moments later, the bracelet buzzed again. She lifted her hand and pressed a recessed button. The device came to life, a caller ID filling the floating screen—a cute cat with brown, black, and orange fur.
She accepted the call after a brief hesitation, pulling her wireless earbuds from the panel, and sliding one bud into her ear.
Only silence followed, the pitter-patter of rain filling the backdrop of the call. She swallowed once, twice and spoke after some hesitation.
"H—Hey there...um..."
Her stuttering left her bemused, feeling like a fool while she waited for a respond.
A half-laugh escaped her lips, stepping ever so closer to her destination. Looking both ways before crossing a street, too lazy to wait for the pedestrian light.
A soft sigh filled her ear, followed by a feminine voice that massaged her senses, ticking her heart with bliss.
「I've been calling you for thirty minutes, I even made food for us since—you were supposed to come home an hour ago...you said you'd only been gone for a week. Is my food not good enough—Sienna?」
Sienna stumbled over her words, days without speaking to anyone turned her tongue useless. Her voice broke into a strangled noise and a giggle rippled through the line, setting her face on fire with shame.
If someone shone a light on her face, it'd put the red of an intersection to shame. The rain doing little to cool her down.
「So? How was it?」
The voice was light, and teasing—utensils clinking and the faint sizzle of cooking oil echoing behind it, followed by the soft gulp of someone drinking.
Sienna felt the weight of her unintended failure and rubbed her eye while she stopped at a busy crosswalk.
"Terrible! Absolutely terrible! I ended up on a gurney, you know?"
The cooking cut off the instant she spoke.
「Whut.」
"Just kidding~"
The conversation drifted into small talk, unimportant things that filled the empty space, the minutes stretching by—the rain still pouring all around.
Eventually, she reached a parking garage. Well, the entrance at least.
"We'll talk later okay? I found my car. Mmm. Mm."
She rested against the narrow booth's wall, sliding down with her finger dipping into a puddle that kept spreading under her shoes.
「Come back in one piece okay? Jaa ne.」
The call disconnected, leaving only the sound of rain filling her mind and numbing her heart.
Siennaexhaled, her shoulders sinking while the reflection in the puddle rippled under her touch.
Looking at her face, the raindrop slipping down the hoodie and onto the ground. Her eyes shimmering red in the flowing puddle—just like a camera capturing the eyes of a wildefowl in the dark.
She drew in a breath and let it out, her breath becoming one with the air. stifling a laugh, laughing at her predicament and at her fortune.
Sienna stood up all at once and turned to her side, walking around to the front of the slim booth. No one worked in a place like this at such hour except for the maintenance cleaning crew.
The screen on the booth flickered and shifted into a number pad. A barcode blinked at the top, with the manufacturer's name faint beneath it.
She lifted her bracelet and searched for a specific app before opening it. She aimed at the barcode and snapped a picture, and not a second later—
Her ticket number and vehicle information appeared, along with a toll. A few hundred in total, nothing severe, even if she wouldn't receive her full pay this time.
"Nine hundred n thirty two pesos."
She pressed pay, and a new barcode appeared. She stared at it and willed it forward, an outline forming in her view. A string of numbers surfaced at the top, and the same amount showed beside it with a minus sign.
The screen on the booth changed as a receipt came out from its side, a joy filled expression took its place. The gate to the parking garage opened—well, the underground version of one at least.
Sienna walked through the gate, and another icon appeared a few meters ahead, a slim green arrow appeared next to it as it pointed downwards while it bobbed in place.
So that's what she did—moving from one floor to the next, walking three levels down. The concrete walls stayed identical the entire way. She unclipped her hood from her feathers and let it fall against her back.
Her car waited near the middle of the row, quiet and beneath the low ceiling lights only married with the presence of a few other cars.
She walked up to it and dug through her pockets, pulling out a small bundle of keys. After a brief search, she found the right one and unlocked the door. Sierra slid off her jacket and tossed it onto the passenger seat before unlocking the remaining doors with the press of a button.
The door unlatched, and she dropped into her seat. A quick look in the side mirror showed the rear door opening. Her kit—a driver—lifted itself into the back seats, and the door shut, the lock clicking into place.
She grabbed her pile of keys, slipped the earbud back into its place, and pressed her right foot onto the brake pedal.
Her left foot found the clutch pedal and pushed it to the floor. She inserted the key and turned it once. The cluster gauge lit up, followed by the headlights, their beam washing over the concrete wall.
Grabbing the handbrake, she pressed the button at the top and push down. Sierra pulled the gear stick into neutral and quickly moved it side to side.
She did it again before turning the key over, the car cranked for a few seconds but no dice.
She cranked the key over as it roared to life, its rough idle coming up to speed as it.
The car shook violently, the tremble running through her body while her bracelet linked to the stereo. Music started to play, the volume knob turning on its own until it reached a comfortable volume. She let the engine warm for a brief moment.
She searched for her home and punched it into the map.
The car's exhaust poured its intoxicating smell into her lungs. She rolled the window down a little, letting the sound from outside pool into her heart and spirit.
With the car warmed up, she buckled her seat belt and shifted into first. She eased her foot off the clutch, letting the vehicle roll forward, then pressed the throttle to pick up speed.
Soon enough, she reached the gate and waited for it to open. The car rolled backward a small distance before she shifted into first again.
Sienna blipped the throttle on the way to the street, its noise filling the empty space.
Though it would take over an hour, it was enough for her to decompress from the stressful week.
She banged through the gears, downshifting before pushing the rev limit again and again, the engine yelling in protest.
"Shit!—F!"
For a moment, she scared herself—nearly sending a piston through the hood.
The highway's curves and the endless gates dividing the land plots, letting the car take her stress.
But even that had its limits—more so with her place sat near the center of the city, practically married to the river cutting through the land.
The river came into view over the bridge when she peeked—its dark, moving current cutting through the city like a knife across a plate.
Sienna steeled her nerves and forced herself into a civilian once more, following the city's rules while she rolled into her driveway. The gate stood between their home and the outside world, just like the others on her street.
Slipping the car into neutral, the remaining momentum enough to let her coast. She glanced at the dash and pressed a button, and a second later the gate opened. She blipped the throttle, then rolled slowly onto their property.
She crept a few more feet forward and shut the engine off, shifting into reverse and lifting the handbrake.
With the windows rolled up, she got out and grabbed her jacket. The metallic click of the engine filling the backdrop..
She opened the rear door as her driver lifted itself and followed her—tossing her jacket over for more relief, using Perception again to distort its presence.
Sienna walked to the front door and searched for another key. One after another until the last finally slid in.
The door opened as she announced herself, her voice filling the short entryway.
"Ikade! I'm home!"
The smell of food drifted through the air, warm and rich, cutting straight through her stomach. She pressed one hand against the wall for balance as she slipped off her shoes, setting them neatly aside and outside.
A pair of slippers waited by the wall inside. She picked the one next to them and slid them on without thinking.
With the slippers on, her feet were finally free from the wet outside. She had already switched to a fresh pair of socks pulled from the small box beside the slippers. The old pair catching fire in the cold concrete and crumbled into a tiny heap of nothing, her gaze leaving the mess.
Her sacred slippers remained untouched by the filth outside.
"I'm gonna shower, okay?!"
Her voice carried through both stories of the house, bouncing off the walls before a yell responded.
"Wait! I wanna do something!"
Ikade's voice reached her, the steps light but quick while she turned the corner. Their eyes met for a brief second, and the feline ran up to her—long light-brown hair with a touch of wheat, white feline ears flicking with every step.
She wore a rather simple but cute outfit, a sleeveless dress with a checked pattern print, each little square smaller than her pinky.
But her own feet betrayed and stumble to her face, stopping a few feet from her own undoing.
Sienna flinched, her mouth dropping open as a reflexive curse escaped.
"Oh shit!—Dude…you good? Hello?"
She crouched and poked Ikade's cheek once, then twice—gently pressing the soft flesh to check if she was still conscious. The feline let out a faint groan, her chest rising and falling while her eyes blinked open with the flatness of someone reconsidering life itself.
"Shut up. Bitch."
The words came muffled, one cheek still pressed against the floor.
Sienna snorted and before she could stop herself, one hand covered her mouth while a giggle bubbled through her exhaustion.
A few minutes later, Sierra remained doubled over, wheezing hard. Ikade attempted tried to through her embarrassment.
"Its not funny! Shaddup!"
Ikade covered her face within her arms, her face pressed against her knees, still squatted down. The fluffy ears twitching at each giggle escaping from Sienna's mouth, her other pair of ears turning red.
"Cough—! Heh—It's not funny, but it's funny—heh—hahhh—hahahaha…"
Sienna clutched her stomach, coughing between fits of laughter, sliding down the wall.
"I'm gonna piss myself."
Ikade shot her a wide-eyed look before blurting.
"Eww! Hello?!? TMI!"
Sierra slowed down, taking deep breaths while her stomach cramped from laughing too hard. She stood up carefully before walking down the non existent hallways before finding the staircase and climbing them.
Followed by her driver with the rule placed upon long gone.
She found the room she wanted—her bedroom. though she hardly slept there anymore.
Without ceremony, she tossed the driver onto the bed. The mattress sinking a fuck ton under its weight, she peeled off her damp clothes, leaving herself in nothing but her bra and underwear—throwing a thick piece of cloth over her driver for good measure.
Opening a closet and pulling out some spare clothes, she headed to her bathroom—closing the door, Sienna turned the shower know and a moment later, the steady rush of warm water filled the tub.
Steam crept up onto the mirror, clouding her reflection, droplets gathering and running down the glass.
"Hwah...."