Moth to a Flame

Quarantaquattro| Tortoise

THIRD PERSON

Leticia adjusted the collar of her blouse, feeling slightly out of her breath. A few hours ago, she had just closed a business deal when Keegan informed her that The Quartet Federation wanted to commence an Emergency Parliament. And here she is, preparing herself to step inside the conference room.

Today, she will meet the infamous trio of aliens that Kage always talked about. They were not informed that she would represent him, so she had already expected violent reactions from them. Even so, she held her chin high and opened the door like a confident diva on a catwalk.

As she opened the door, she was met with the familiar sight of Geometry, Yulan, and Zeeshan already seated around the polished table.

Geometry wore a neutral expression, his always-calm gaze fixed on the screen displaying metrics on the Five Rings' recent attack, while Yulan lounged in his chair, doing repetitive tappings on the table. On the other hand, Zeeshan was flipping a stylus absentmindedly, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he remembered a stupid meme years ago.

"Look who decided to grace us with their presence," Yulan smirked, his voice mocking. "Leticia, do tell—are you here to save the day or provide another disaster?"

Leticia rolled her eyes. Pinigilan niya ang sarili niyang wag itong hampasin ng bag nang madaanan niya ito upang umupo sa bakanteng upuan. Sinundan naman nila ito ng tingin hanggang tuluyan na itong makaupo.

"Kage instructed me to represent him today. I am also a Salvatore. I suppose it won't be any problem?" she began, trying to validate her authority.

Yulan's smirk deepened, "Of course, it won't be a problem. The spoiled brat cousin who thought it would be fun to make this parliament into her playground." He leaned back on his chair, faking amusement.

"Isn't it right, Geometry? I'm sure she had the genius-level insights we all need to solve the problem." Pinagkunutan naman siya ng noo ni Leticia.

What the hell is his problem?

"Okay, that's enough." Geometry interjected before things escalated. "We're here to discuss more important matters, so set your personal feelings aside for now." Napairap naman si Leticia, samantalang tanging ismid naman ang naging reaksyon ni Yulan.

"Chimera of the Five Rings had launched an open assassination for Zeeshan and used Sapphire to shut down Diamond of North and South America," he stated, his voice calm and neutral as he showed a chart on a huge screen.

Nasa kalagitnaan ito ng pagpapaliwanag kung ano ang nangyari ay biglang naglatag ng box ng pizza si Zeeshan sa lamesa. Napatigil ang mga ito at napatingin sa kanya na may hawak na pizza cutter.

"Zeeshan, this isn't snack time!" Geometry snapped, staring at him with an exasperated expression on his face.

Zeeshan cut the pizza into uneven pieces, representing the screen's line graph. "Can you use a pie graph instead of that boring line? You make such a lifeless presentation, Geo!" he teased, grinning like a mischievous kid.

"You nearly died yesterday, and you're still in the mood to joke around?" Zeeshan shrugged and sat on the table before biting a piece of pizza.

"Fine, I get it. Base on your deductions, Sapphire poses a legitimate threat to our Diamond. It was as if she was engineered specifically to counter Diamond's algorithms." Napatango-tango naman ang mga ito dahil sa wakas ay mukhang nasa mood na ito upang makipag-diskusyon.

"How can we outsmart an advanced AI?" Nagkunwari itong nag-iisip bago muling kumagat ng pizza. "How about making a male AI and seduce Sapphire? Or maybe, you know? A little dance party?" Bumagsak ang balikat ni Geo at napahilot naman ng sentido si Yulan, while Leticia's eyes nearly became a flat line.