This new room wasn’t anything special; just a lounge area done up in lots of silvers and whites. Psychico was sitting at a table, writing some things and muttering to himself. Prophet stood over in the corner behind a bar, a glass of brown liquid in his hand. SnowSword was checking her makeup in a mirror, and Energia was sitting upside down on one of the couches, reading a gossip magazine.
I started walking over towards Psychico, thinking that maybe I could help him with the press release, but Tempus Manum grabbed my arm and directed me over to the other girls. “Hey,” I said to the two, glaring at Tempus Manum as he went to speak to Psychico.
“Can you believe this bullshit, Snow?” asked Energia, glaring at her magazine while I sat down next to her. “I mean, I got bumped! I’m not even in this issue. It’s completely devoted to speculation.”
“And imagine, after the stunt you pulled,” said SnowSword absently, perfecting her lipstick. “Showed up in costume to a crowded night club, demanded entrance, nearly drank the place dry, and almost electrocuted some of the dancers.”
“Exactly,” said Energia. “So why isn’t it in here?”
“Why do you want bad press?” I asked, frowning. “I mean, they’re making fun of you. I saw them in supermarkets and stuff, saying mean things about how you’re out of control and how it won’t be long before Mace…”
“Kills me?” Energia asked, looking at me for once. “I know. I don’t care, though. Press is press is press. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, as long as it keeps their attention. And, for all I know, you might have heard me making fun. I like being one of my own biggest haters.” SnowSword rolled her eyes and Energia swatted her with the magazine. “You just wish you’d thought of creating your own press first before they got hold of your twisted background.”
Then she batted me with the magazine. “By the way, congratulations. You made cover.”
“I did what?” I asked, grabbing it from her hands. “Cover?”
It was true. There was a sketch of me on the front page of The Everground Whisper, one of the most famous gossip magazines in the city. Energia had once been on the cover for a record eight weeks before getting moved to page two. I’d never heard of her getting bumped completely.
“Yeah,” said SnowSword, opening the magazine when I didn’t make a move to. “And almost every single page after that. Someone snapped a picture of you and it went a bit viral with the gossip column community.”
“But what could they even say about me?” I asked, beginning to flip the pages. There were speculative articles about who I was, what I liked, what my powers were. “Randi didn’t release anything to them yet, right?”
“Randi?” scoffed Energia. “Fuck Randi. Randi can go suck a dick.” I frowned, unsure of why Energia had any reason at all to be upset with our Public Relations agent.
“Gia’s got a bone to pick with Randi right now,” explained SnowSword, after noticing how confused I looked. “They’re limiting her, she says. I don’t know why she’s so upset.”
“Wow, get a fucking boyfriend and then we’ll see how you feel about having your life choices limited. Until then, don’t act as my fucking mouth.” She whirled around towards me angrily, and I could see the deep hurt in her eyes that she tried to hide behind her mask. “She won’t let me go public with my relationship. I mean, God, you know I’m with Luca, right?” I nodded. The way they acted, I didn’t know how anyone couldn’t know. “Great. You’re one of about ten people who do. I’ve been dating Luca for a little over a year now. I want to tell the world that she’s mine, but I can’t because fucking Randi doesn’t think it would be ‘spinnable’.” With that single word, she rolled her eyes and imitated Randi perfectly. “So, yeah, I’m upset.”
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حركة (أكشن)Mina Percival was destroyed. A car crash decimated her body, leaving her clinging to life...now, the only thing keeping her alive is the technology which has formed her new body. She's a cyborg, the first of her kind. Desperate to maintain the nor...
