For A Star To Fall

Chapter 8: Did it like a Boss

Chapter 8: Did it like a Boss

Father would be so disappointed in her if he saw her now, Emyle thought. She had been as careless as Dr. Valin-if not more, letting her thoughts wander and distract her from the situation at hand. She had failed Father, in a sense. He had given her advice about this, and it was absolutely unforgivable of her to forget now. Always be aware of your surroundings, my precious star, keep your eyes open, your mind alert.

But it was a minor thing; she tried to convince herself of that. Then she saw Father's greyish-green eyes staring at her in her mind's eye, and she flinched involuntarily. Dr. Valin had been right when he had said that she looked like her mother-Father was always reminding her of that particular fact. Apart from her straight black hair, she had inherited no other physical characteristic from her father, with all her looks, including the colour of her eyes, coming from her mother's genes. However, the difference in the colours of their eyes did not mean any variation in their personalities-they were almost alike in the way they thought and acted. But, unlike Father, Emyle listened to another person's advice, simply because it was her duty as his daughter to do so.

And now, those grey-green eyes were staring at her again, though the person that they belonged to was not by Emyle's side. She bowed her head in submission to the Father in her mind's eye, seeking forgiveness for her mistake. She had failed him for the second time since they had embarked on their efforts to steal the thumb drive, which had been almost thirteen years ago. Everything had gone smoothly since they had started, until that night-only yesterday, in truth, but to Emyle it felt like a year-when she had made her first mistake.

Father had thought that she was finally ready to carry out the final stage of their decade-long plan. And then things started to go wrong. Even though Emyle did not know the exact things she was referring to, she still knew for certain that everything had been her fault. Perhaps she had been careless, or a security camera had spotted her without her noticing, but it was definitely all her fault, for Father was surely incapable of mistakes of such consequence. That night, Father was captured, Dr. Valin had taken the thumb drive back while Emyle was still unconscious, and she was now in the research facility of Lumiere Biopharm-treated like a guest in the hands of her enemy, but she knew she was still as imprisoned as Father surely was.

Never mind, Emyle thought desperately. She would make all of this better. She would solve this problem, and clear up this mess that she had created, with or without help, thus achieving her goals. With her efforts, Father would be freed and they would finally have the elusive thumb drive. Emyle nodded to herself resolutely, almost stubbornly, even. She would not fail a third time.

Emyle approached the swinging doors of the cafeteria and peeked inside. Admittedly, she should have known that Dr. Valin was headed for the cafeteria. It was nearly dinner time and she had memorised that floor plan when Jordan had been showing her around. But, no matter, she would be fine. Scanning the dinner time crowd, Emyle frowned. There were too many people in the cafeteria now, and because of that she could not interrogate Dr. Valin for Father's whereabouts.

Sighing, Emyle resigned herself to the fact that she would not be able to find out where Father was being kept captive-unless she waited till Dr. Valin was along, but she would probably never find a chance like this again, especially after the security guards realised that she was not in her room, which definitely be soon. Emyle had no other choice but to focus on getting that thumb drive from Dr. Valin. She had no idea what information it contained, but it had been Father's top priority, so she had to obtain it for his sake. Once she had gotten it, Father would surely forgive her for making another mistake and not remembering his advice.

Her head bowed down to hide her face, Emyle moved into the cafeteria, perfectly conscious of the fact that there were security cameras on the walls. None of the scientists around her took any notice of her; perhaps they simply assumed that she was one of the assistants? Emyle pushed such distracting thoughts away, not willing to make a similar mistake as the previous one.