Lunessa gulped.
Her throat went dry the moment she stood in the middle of the hospital lobby. Everything she had planned an hour ago vanished on the spot.
'Pull yourself together.'
She tried to calm herself and continued walking toward the hospital counter.
"Excuse—"
She stopped, recalling that she needed to sound confident. Not timid.
"Sorry. I need to meet the hospital director. Urgently."
The staff at the counter didn't reply right away. Like she always got treated, the staff eyes swept over her from head to toe.
"Do you have an appointment, miss?" the staff asked. "Because judging by the time, our director is already at home. Probably sleeping."
"No, I don't," Lunessa said. "But just tell him I need him to come, by hook or by crook."
She paused, gulping again, her mind racing for what to say next.
"By hook or by crook?" the staff repeated, mocking. A small chuckle followed. "May I know your name, miss?"
Lunessa hesitated.
The name sat on her tongue was Julian Hale but trying her best to ease down, she swallowed it back.
"Lunessa," she said instead.
The staff typed something lazily into the computer, then shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she said, tone already bored. "The director is unavailable. Even if you wait here until morning, he won't be coming back."
Lunessa's fingers curled.
"I really need to see him," she insisted. "It's urgent."
The staff sighed. "Miss, we deal with urgent cases every day. This isn't one of them."
That was it.
Lunessa held the staff's gaze, her mind racing, searching for something that could turn this around.
Anything... but nothing came.
She realized it then.
She had no leverage here.
The staff was already looking past her, fingers moving toward the keyboard, attention drifting to the next task.
"Please step aside," they said. "You're holding up the line."
Lunessa stepped back.
[YOU HAVE THREE HOURS REMAINING]
[FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE SIDE MISSION WILL RESULT IN MISSION FAILURE]
Her steps faltered.
"What?" Lunessa hissed under her breath. "You didn't mention this earlier."
[YOU DID NOT REQUEST FURTHER DETAILS, MISS]
She gasped in frustration and closed her eyes for a few seconds, forcing herself to breathe.
'Calm down. Not here.'
The last thing she needed was to snap at a floating hologram in the middle of a hospital lobby and get dragged into the psychiatry ward for talking to empty air.
She opened her eyes again.
Three hours.
That was all she had.
Lunessa tightened her grip on her bag and turned away from the counter, her thoughts racing until something suddenly snapped into place.
"What if I fail the mission?" she muttered. "Nothing happens, right?"
The system answered immediately.
[I FORGOT TO INFORM YOU, MISS]
[FOR EVERY MISSION FAILURE, THERE IS A PENALTY]
"What?!" Lunessa hissed, stopping in her tracks.
Her nails dug into the strap of her bag.
"What kind of penalty?" she asked carefully.
The hologram flickered.
[PENALTIES VARY BASED ON MISSION TYPE]
Her throat went dry.
"Vary how?" she pressed.
The system paused, just long enough to make her uneasy.
[CURRENT SIDE MISSION PENALTY: RANDOMIZED]
Her heart sank.
"Randomized?" she repeated. "You mean—you don't even know what it'll be?"
[CORRECT]
Lunessa let out a sharp breath. "That's insane."
[UNCERTAINTY INCREASES COMPLIANCE]
She clenched her jaw.
"So you threaten me with something you can't even define."
[NEGATIVE]
[THE PENALTY EXISTS]
[DETAILS ARE IRRELEVANT]
Her chest tightened.
Three hours suddenly felt much shorter.
Lunessa glanced back toward the counter, then toward the elevators.
"You really corner people," she muttered.
[SUBJECTS UNDER PRESSURE EVOLVE INTO MORE EFFICIENT VILLAINS]
She huffed in irritation. "Are you a system to create a gold digger or a villain?"
The hologram flickered softly.
[I AM A GOLD DIGGER SYSTEM]
She opened her mouth—
[HOWEVER, SYSTEM PARAMETERS ARE ADJUSTABLE]
Her brows furrowed.
[SYSTEM ADAPTATION IS BASED ON HOST DESIRE]
"My desire?" Lunessa repeated.
The next lines appeared calmly.
[YOU STATED EARLIER]
[THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO BECOME]
[THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN THIS COUNTRY]
Her breath caught.
The words felt uncomfortably familiar.
[SYSTEM ALIGNMENT UPDATED]
She stared at the floating text.
"You're serious?" she muttered.
[I DO NOT JOKE, MISS LUNESSA]
The countdown ticked silently at the corner of her vision — 2:58:47
Three hours.
Lunessa exhaled slowly.
"Then tell me," she said, lifting her head. "What's the fastest way to make a man like him apologize?"
The hologram flickered.
[I'M SORRY]
[TO BE A SUCCESSFUL GOLD DIGGER]
[YOU NEED TO BE SMART]
"Excuse me?" Lunessa said slowly.
[SYSTEM WILL NOT PROVIDE STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS FOR SIDE MISSIONS]
Her eyes narrowed. "You're refusing?"
[CORRECT]
"And you expect me to figure it out myself?"
[INDEPENDENT THINKING INCREASES ADAPTABILITY]
She let out a sharp breath through her nose. "Great. Such a useless system."
The hologram didn't react.
[INSULT NOTED]
[FUNCTIONALITY UNAFFECTED]
Lunessa laughed in disbelief. "I'm sure you're human," she said. "I just can't prove it. No one can be this sarcastic on purpose."
The hologram responded immediately.
[STATEMENT WAS NOT SARCASTIC]
She paused.
"See?" Lunessa said, rubbing her forehead. "That. That's right there."
[CLARIFICATION: SYSTEM DOES NOT POSSESS HUMOR]
She let out a breath, half a laugh. "That makes it worse."
[HOST RESPONSE CLASSIFIED AS EMOTIONAL DEFLECTION]
"You really don't miss anything, do you?"
[OBSERVATION IS A CORE FUNCTION]
Lunessa shook her head slowly.
"Fine," she muttered. "Be honest. Be brutal. Just don't pretend you're not enjoying this."
The hologram didn't respond.
Silence settled between them.
Lunessa exhaled sharply.
"What should I do?" she whispered, pacing back and forth. Her steps were uneven, thoughts colliding as she searched for a way, any way to make Elias Vorn apologize here, now, before time ran out.
"Got it."
Her steps halted instantly.
Lunessa spun around, eyes darting for the hologram, only to realize it was hovering right behind her.
"How much time left?" she asked quickly.
[02:39:22]
Her lips parted. "Let's go," she said quietly. "I'll try my best."
She walked back to the counter.
This time, she didn't hesitate.
"Call the director right away," Lunessa said. "Tell him Julian Hale's girlfriend needs to see him. Urgently."
The staff paused.
Their fingers stopped mid-typing.
"Excuse me?" they asked, finally looking up at her properly.
Lunessa met their gaze without flinching.
"I won't repeat myself," she said evenly.
For a brief second, the counter felt less like a barrier and more like a fault line.