The Girl

“Were you really a monster in the end? A warlord, an alien administrator? A vicious killer with a cruel streak, mutilating your enemies and secretly enjoying it? A bully, if you forgive me for using that word?” asked a woman wearing a tailored suit, holding a revolver and sitting on a rock. In front of her, about seven meters away, a girl stood barely on her feet. One-armed, wearing battered and mangled armor, the pieces of which were barely held together, with a knife strapped to her belt and a strange high-tech device on her back which was clearly in no condition to work. A half-empty thermos was lying beside her. No one else was around. Not a single living soul for hundreds, maybe even thousands of kilometers. The girl in the armor shifted her gaze to her hand, struggling to squeeze her fingers together. Her companion, meanwhile, continued her monologue. “Or were you really a hero? Do the good intentions win out? Was it Glaistig Uaine’s strength or yours, that held her back from saving Scion in those final moments?” The face of the woman in the suit was indifferent, despite the genuine interest in her voice. “Why-why does it matter?” murmured the mutilated girl. “Because I think you have a chance to come back from this. Not much of a chance. Part of that rides on me. I could help you, or I could stop you from troubling anyone ever again. Part of that? It’s up to you to win the fight, to take control and keep the administrator from claiming everything you have, leaving you a shell.” The woman pointed her revolver. The Girl... the creature that stood before her flinched. Her mind was in agony, two incompatible halves at war within. The greater sought to consume the remnants of the lesser, but something prevented it from completing the process. In both instances of her consciousness, however, there was an understanding that this was the end. No matter what happened next, nothing would ever be the same again. And with that, an equilibrium was achieved. There was no clarity of the mind - too much had been broken and there was no way to undo the damage right now. However, she regained the ability to shape coherent sentences. “As if... it would make a difference. I did... what I had to do. Now I... don't belong anywhere that I was... before. You... said yourself that you had a... mission. I had... mine. Even if it was... like this. And it's... over.” The woman hummed as she listened to the words the girl struggled to say. ”So that's how you see things. A mission. For you, as well as for the Administrator. Well, I can relate to that. You..." She paused for a moment as if she had caught herself, but then she continued. "You really have no place among those who remember you.” She got up from the stone, leaving her jacket lying on the gray surface. Then she came closer to her, but not close enough for the girl to be able to reach her with her knife. “Debuted as a vigilante who then fell into villainy. From villain to hero. From a hero to a monster. An amazing metamorphosis. You crawled your way to the top, leaving everything behind. But this is the end. Your final stage, Weaver.” The girl remembered her. Now that she could think more clearly, it wasn't difficult. Contessa, that was the woman's name. She turned away, watching the stars, their endless shimmering. She knew the gun was pointed at her head. She accepted her fate at the hands of the one that always came to win. She knew she simply had no other choice. “Don't take this as gratitude, but it really was a good job. Not the best, but a lot more desirable than the other options. In the end, the only thing that matters is the result. Everything other than that is irrelevant. Your mission is complete, Taylor Hebert. Enjoy your retirement.“ The first shot hit her where her mask didn't cover, knocking her down. She didn't hear the second one. Just as the girl in the armor fell, Contessa reached into the pocket of her messenger bag. Her hand wrapped around some kind of device and she pressed a button. A few seconds later, a familiar portal frame appeared in front of her. Placing the gun in her bag with the device, she walked over to the bleeding but still-living body of the Queen Administrator's host, grabbed her body with both hands and threw her into the portal, which closed at the same moment.