Triptych

Chapter 9

Huge shout-out to @A6Fatima. Love you buddy

Lana

Lana watches the emotions fly past the girl's face, one after the other. Her evident shock does little to calm Lana's own racing heart as she tries not to shrink into herself. Mac is perfectly pretty, with long pink hair that falls down to her waist and big blue eyes that stare her down. Lana feels the inexplicable urge to hide as Mac finally speaks, "Candor. I didn't expect you to be this forward."

"Honestly, me neither. But I'm a bit desperate." Lana allows herself a seat beside her at the bar. It gives her legs reprieve and she doesn't have to look straight at the girl, instead studying the counter top like it holds all the answers. "Can we talk somewhere quieter?"

"Follow me"

She silently follows Mac to the back of the bar. It's almost deserted here, separated from the main floor by a mesh wall that provides secrecy without being too obvious. Lana observes the diversity among the patrons to avoid focusing of Mac's elegant gait. Mac must have signaled him on her way because the stoic bodyguard is suddenly beside her as they enter some kind of backroom. Lana watches him inquisitively for a moment before Mac supplies, "It's alright Lana. Orion is trustworthy."

"I can see that" She says slowly, studying Orion like a foreign specie she's never seen before. "I just can't understand ... how?"

Mac smirks, pushing her long mane behind her back. "Sorry, you need to be a level 4 friend to unlock that backstory."

"What?"

Orion lets out an amused snort.

"Its one of my most iconic lines." Mac looks genuinely affronted. "Never mind that, you wanted to talk."

Lana casts a look around the dimly lit room, its walls pulsing with music from the bar. She doesn't spot anything to make the room secure, Its just a big boiler room with spare furniture stacked on top of each other. "Well this is underwhelming" She comments. "The way Dr Stein talked about you, I pictured a top secret lab with a dozen security checks."

Mac has perched herself on one of the corner tables. "What do you hear Lana?"She asks conversationally, following her gaze around the room.

"Um... weirdly chaotic jazz that I haven't heard before?"

Mac laughs prettily, covering her perfect teeth with a dainty hand. Lana has never been so unnerved by a person before. "Exactly. Loud jazz playing on every frequency FOCUS even thinks about keeping an eye on. You're fine."

"Oh. That's pretty smart." Lana admits.

"It is, isn't it." Why Mac looks so excited over the simplest things she says is beyond her. "So, what's your story?"

"Dr Stien?"Lana asks tentatively. Apparently all her impulsive bravado used up in getting here. "He told me you'd be able to help me."

"Help with what exactly?" Mac tilts her head to the side in a way Lana is sure will look stupid if she tried. "You don't look like you need any more hardware?"

"I don't" She says proudly. "But, Dr Stein told me I should let you take a look at my diagnostics. I – I got an upgrade recently. Its kind of advanced, prototype more or less and –"

"And you still went through it?" Mac interrupts

"Yes, I – I volunteered. It – honestly seemed like a good idea at the time" Lana says with a laugh. Maybe it's the knowledge that no one can hear her right now. Except two strangers who don't expect anything from her, have no presumptions of who she is and what she should be. Here she is just Lana. She could tell them she's a renowned artist in the cyberspace and they'll have no reason to question it. Whatever it is, it makes her reckless. "I wanted to be the first one to go through with it. The doctors said it was 100% fail-safe and my father he- he just wants the best for me. Always"