Consoulia Chronicles: Booting Up [~ read description]

Chapter 15: Sibling Rivalry

A pair of hurried heels clicked and clacked against the tile floors, their echoes announcing the arrival of Satara. She approached as she looked around the control room bathed in a deep blue from the only light source around; a giant panel of screens broadcasting a real-time view of all of the rooms in the facility. 

"Computer. Status report."  

"Desiri's backup is fifty percent recovered, and Kiran's is about fifteen percent recovered." Satara clicked her teeth in frustration. " I knew I should've put my friends through training." 

"You sacrificed real, living people for your sick goals and you have the gall to still call them your 'friends?'" Sotoro scolded, holding a mountain of food bags in his hands. "Oh, lemme just.. oh.." As he put them down, they toppled over, but thankfully they were sealed up. "They were my friends that you recruited." 

"They've proven to be useful, dear brother," she answered. 
"I just wanted to make friends. I wasn't trying to build a gang for you." 
"Too bad, so sad. Go check on the captives." 

"Now!" He commanded. 

She felt herself become bound by a circular thread of rope, followed by two more. The figures that threw them ran around her so fast that the ropes gripped her tighter as more layers were added. She felt the ends get tied into a tight knot before she caught the sight of three women walking in front of her to join sides with her brother. Mia, Zerrin, and.. 

"Hey, boss." one of them greeted; Myrtle

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" Satara screeched.  She writhed in her bonds, grunting, using her teeth to try to loosen up the ropes to no avail."When did you have the time to plan all this?" 

"You've been too generous with giving me and Myrtle so much alone time" was all he could say.

Satara growled whilst struggling to get out of her binds. "Well, that still doesn't explain anything!" Satara screeched at him again. "You fools. Once Kiran and Desiri are recovered, you're all in shit. I've still got Tweedles Dee and Dumbass to help me out, right?" 

"Oh, what?" Stephanie said as she disconnected the backup USBs from the computer. 

"What have you done?! Stop them!" Satara screamed, falling over in her bonds. "You traitors!" 

"Did you really think we'd let Corporate Greed lose out on this? That promotion's mine!" Ken rambled. 
"Ours!" Stephanie protested" 
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Ours." 

Satara only harrumphed at her remark. "Somehow I knew you two would go behind our backs and turn us in, but what now? You're still surrounded by Consouloids. You'll have to retrieve all of us, lest you're okay with failing your mission and getting executed." 

"That's the most valid point I've heard all day, actually." Zander walked in with his three teammates. "So just who the hell are you clowns, anyway? Are you the masterminds behind all this?" 

"Zerrin! Mia!" Spire and Iris called out, running after them. 

"There you are!" Mia crouched and hugged them while Zerrin stood over them. "I was so worried about everyone." 

"No, of course it's not our plan. Tell 'em, Ken." 
Despite Stephanie's pleas, Ken smirked. "That's right, genius! It was all my idea. Now that everyone's in the same room, it's mission accomplished." 

"This was your goal all along?!" Satara writhed. "We'll never go anywhere with the likes of you." 

"Oh, really?" Ken produced a USB stick from her lab coat pocket. Brushing her brown locks out of the way, she eyed the back of Iris's Identity Choker. She ran up to her, but before anyone could register what was happening, she shoved it in the choker. Zander managed to push Ken off of her and onto the ground. She smirked up at him. "Ooh, too late." 

Zander ground his teeth, but looked over at a screaming Iris. "What did you do to her?" 
"You'll find out soon enough."

Satara sneered, writhing as a hand bloodied from struggle cut through her bonds. "What have you done?! You're going to get us all killed. You've turned Iris into a weapon of pure destruction!" 

"How did you know all that?" Mia questioned as she was looming protectively over Iris, who was now calming down. 
"How did you think our world got destroyed?" Zerrin answered.