She waited to hear them but Mia didn’t elaborate.
“Cypher is here,” Vee announced, studying her. She didn’t know if it was true but she said it anyway.
“Is he now?” Mia picked up her tablet and typed something in.
“He’s real.”
“I never said he wasn’t,” Mia said.
“But Nightheart…”
“Did he explicitly say Cypher wasn’t real?”
Vee sat back, but then the wet spot on her shirt made her cringe and lean forward. “I…”
She couldn’t remember if he ever said fake, but it was clearly stated she would need to play Cypher’s part. That she needed to pretend to be him, act like him, respond as him on her site. That the addition of this Cyborg personality was essential to her contract. That besides doing such things was part of the deal, everything else would be taken care of, and not for her to worry about. “No.”
God, she felt like an idiot.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Miles. Nightheart would never lie to you. Lying is beneath him.”
That didn’t make Vee feel better at all. “So,” she licked her lips, not expecting a straight answer, “what was the point of it? Why bring me into this?”
“The point of what?”
“Having me pretend to be him, why was it part of the contract at all?”
“Ah. I’m not at liberty to say.”
“But I’m not in danger? You’re not going to jerk the rug out from under me, are you?” Vee asked, wishing she could find the excitement she experienced several days ago. Uncertainty plagued her much of the time now.
Mia laughed. “No, Ms. Miles, you are not in any danger. Your dreams are also not in any danger. At least from us. You are, essentially an employee now, after all. Looks like we’ve arrived.”
The hovercraft lowered from the sky and landed on a private airpad before Vee could ask anything more. Moments later, their security guards let them out of the vehicle. Crisp, clean air filled Vee’s nose. Far cleaner than the air in her part of the city.
She glanced at the buildings around her. Some were gothic, some industrial, some merely chrome and glass. The one thing they all had in common though… They were beautiful and well maintained.Must be near the EPED headquarters.
She and Mia were led inside by an assistant to Intergalactic Entertainment and brought to a quiet room with drinks and food waiting for them.
“Make yourself comfortable. Someone will come for you through those doors there when they’re ready,” the assistant said, handing a tablet to Vee. “Here are the questions you’ll be asked if you want to review them beforehand.” The assistant left them shortly after.
Vee sat and looked around. Mia was sitting further down the couch from her, working on her screen. Vee’s eyes went to the giant televised projection to the right of her. On it was the host of the gaming sports show, and next to him was Deadly Dearest’s frontrunner, Diatrix Greer, and several of her teammates. Her lips parted in awe.
She’d followed DD for years, was a fan of theirs. She’d even once competed against them in a local competition when she was first starting. That was a long time ago, back when she dreamed of once joining the all-female team. But that was before Vee realized that it was a polyamorous group with no men allowed, virtually unjoinable unless she wanted to change her whole lifestyle.
Cypher popped into her head.Ugh.She pressed her face into her palms.
The doors to the studio opened. Vee surged to her feet, expecting to see him. But it was Deadly Dearest who walked through, all smiles and swagger. Tall, sexy, and confident, the women had a particular look with skin-tight red suits and long ponytails atop their heads.
Her gaze met Diatrix’s. The bombshell with black hair headed straight for her, scanning Vee up and down.
What was with it and all the beautiful women around her lately? She was beginning to believe she was more out of her league than she realized.
“Diatrix Greer,” Vee exhaled the other woman’s name almost reverently. “I—I’m honored to meet you.”
“Vee Miles,” Diatrix cooed back, glancing about. “Where’s your Cyborg?”
“He’s”—Vee peered at Mia who wasn’t paying attention—“not here.”
