Out of This World Gaming [~ read description]

Chapter 33: Strife Between Siblings

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. 

At the keyboard, there was a person sitting in an admittedly standard, wheeled computer chair ticking away at the keys. They had been giving the console various commands, such as moving individual cameras and changing the viewpoints; they hummed quizzically as Satara joined their side. "Status report."  

Taken aback by his sister's return, he nearly jumped out of his chair. Instead, his head whipped into her direction as his eyes widened. "It's.. I.. you see-" 

"Why do I bother asking? Let me see!" He let out a yelp as she pushed her brother out of her space. She gazed into the screens and squinted at the visuals she was given. "Sotoro, are those the bodies of our victims?" she inquired with a hint of hope laced in her tone. 

Sotoro gulped as he saw the bodies lying about, some in a noticeable pool of blood, and others statuses were unknown from the grainy images. At her cold commands, he enhanced the images and zoomed in on them at her request. Sotoro couldn't help but to keep eyeing the open door, his feet prepared to carry him far away from the control room. So he did just that. 

"Where do you think you're going?" With the press of a button on the console, Satara had begun to close the door. Sotoro, on the other hand, didn't plan on stopping any time soon. The light from the door had begun to become narrower as his escape route was beginning to close. His body slammed into the door with a yelp. He turned around only to find Satara in his face. "You lied to me!" 

She threw a punch, but he had enough time to duck as he watched her fist barely miss his scalp and punch a dent into the door. "You said my lackeys were battle ready. They're all dead, you idiot!" Satara threw a fist at his jaw, a fist that he swayed his head to miss, but was ill prepared to dodge his sister's heel digging into his chest to pin him against the wall. 

Sotoro breathed quickly as the sharp heel dug into his body, hyperventilating and looking around for a way out, when something clicked. "B-but- one of Ziazan's crew is dead!" he bleated. "It means we can still win!"

"What?!" another young man's voice shouted.

"Well, well, well, look who's up and screaming like the little bitch he is." Satara taunted as she moved towards a short cage, and on the inside, the bottom was carpeted with a blanket and a pillow. One side of the cage had a water dispenser reminiscent of those used by smaller animals seen in pet stores, such as hamsters, but the water supply was low. Beside him was a bucket.

"All of my friends are dead and I'm not crying, so what's your excuse?" she taunted as she raised his head up to look at her eyes with her fingers, only to be bitten and screamed as she pulled away. She grunted at him, shooting daggers as she tenderly held her hand. 

"You sacrificed real, living people for your sick goals and you have the gall to still call them your 'friends?'" Ziazan scoffed from his cage. "You said it yourself; they're just lackeys. They were meant to be disposed of, weren't they?" 

 Satara giggled as she leaned to make eye contact with her prisoner. "You're right about one thing, brother, they were quite disposable despite getting me so far. It's a shame, really." Satara smirked down at him. "The only other person I'd trust is my twin brother, and I put him in charge of.."

Her twin brother in question began to chuckle to himself, startling his sister ever so slightly initially, but it was enough to tell her everything. "What do you mean by laughing like that? Stop laughing like that!" Satara started to rush him, only for her to be stopped in her tracks by a fist to her chest.