June 8, 3028
Late morning came quickly to Lausta Ranch. A tremendous commotion dominated the house and even the farmlands around it. Everyone had something to do in preparation for the mission later on.
Meeki expected Kiluana to be the impulsive type during all of this, the sort of person who made only the minimal preparations before jumping into the deadliest situations. Meeki kept this in mind and hoped she would have plenty of time to talk to the girl.
Hours before anything would conceivably happen, Meeki found Kiluana already dressed in her white full leather uniform. Through much of the morning she took care of various odds and ends with the staff. To make matters worse, she entirely ignored Meeki and everyone else in the process. Then, after announcing that they would leave early to secure the borders of Gonsalez tower, she finally dropped her business to talk.
“Oh, Meeki. What's up?”
“What's up?” Meeki groaned. “Well, I've been trying to talk to you all morn—”
Meeki cut herself short and remembered that Kiluana didn't care for complaints.
“I wanted to ask if, um, you can let me off this assassination stuff tonight.”
Kiluana squinted and turned her head, seeming very confused by the request. “What for?”
“Well, I got shot yesterday, for starters. Can't I stay back or something? Just for tonight?”
Kiluana smiled and shook her head. “I think you're doing fine. Don't sell yourself short.”
Meeki was hardly doing fine. The ache in her arm constantly reminded her.
“Come on, isn't it proof enough that I'm worthless? Even if I didn't get shot, it was only by dumb luck that I wasn't captured and arrested.”
“Listen up.” Kiluana stood to Meeki's side and patted her shoulder. “You had a rough start, but that's no reason to be afraid. You'll never get anywhere if you just stay behind and complain whenever something goes wrong. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with that attitude.”
Kiluana was taking control of the conversation. Meeki had to bargain with the girl and fast.
“Look, I know I have to repay you, but can't it be in some other way? I'm hardly trained, I'll only slow you down with important stuff like tonight. I'll help you out in whatever other job you want, just not something this serious.”
Kiluana scoffed. “You really want to keep away, don't you?”
“Yeah. Like I said, I'll do anything else.”
Kiluana turned her back to Meeki and thought about it for a minute, which was both grating and hopeful. If she had to think about it, there was a chance that Meeki convinced her. But then Kiluana turned back, shaking her head in disagreement.
“You're still coming. I don't care how good or bad you think you are. I only have enough staff to cover the exits and protect your family here. The Innocent Girls are going to protect the administrators on their own, and that includes you.”
“I know we're short, but that doesn't mean I won't screw things up again,” Meeki mumbled.
Kiluana chuckled. “This really isn't as serious as you think, it isn't going to be a world televised performance or anything. So if you're still worried about what my papa said, just drop it. I don't care how many friends this cultist has, they won't stop me. Trust me on this.”
Meeki frowned. Payne's warning was exactly why she wanted to keep out.
“Remember that your family's protection comes at a cost. Don't let me down by chickening out.”
Meeki sighed in frustration and wondered what else she could say. The reminder about her family was always Kiluana's trick to destroy Meeki's attempts at dissent.
Kiluana shut her eyes and walked several steps away. She turned and smiled while twirling a little black strand of her hair.
“Enough whining, Meeki. We're leaving soon. Find Braya,” Kiluana said with such finality in her tone that Meeki lost hope in talking to her.
With that task dispensed, Kiluana walked back into the house.
So much for trying to keep out of harm's way. Meeki knew that Kiluana wouldn't change her mind now, the girl was too damned stubborn. If only it wasn't a matter of family protection, she'd really give Kiluana a piece of her mind.
But Meeki's annoyance soon broke down into anxiety. She couldn't ignore Payne's warning and Kiluana's offhanded rejection of it. Now she had to find Braya, maybe she would help find a way out of this.
* * *
The search for Braya became more troublesome than Meeki expected. Nobody on the farm reported seeing her. Meeki thought that the girl might seek out shade in warm weather, like any cat would, but Braya wasn't in any obvious shade. With all of Kiluana's servants nearly ready, it wasn't certain she would find Braya on time.
As Meeki stood on the back porch at a loss, her daughter and husband came along one of the dirt paths from the right. They weren't the people she wanted to see right now. Hiding her concern from Miao would be difficult.
“Mom, what are you doing? Everyone's leaving,” Miao said.
“I'm trying to find Braya. She isn't anywhere as far as I can tell.”
“I think I saw her go by the big tree a few hours ago,” her husband suggested. “So what are your plans? Are you going with them?”
Meeki shivered and wanted to unload all her pent up fears, but she couldn't appear weak and uncertain near Miao. She tried her best to fake a confident smile. “Don't worry, there's still some time to try something. Once I'll find Braya, we can think of a plan.”
Despite the attempt to appear calm, her husband must have seen through the act. He wrapped his arms around her to give the warmest hug he could manage, and Miao eventually joined by hugging at their legs. Meeki couldn't help but cry a little to a moment like this. She prayed it wouldn't be her last time being so intimate with them.
“I should keep looking. I'll get back to you guys if we can think of a way out of this.”
With some reluctance she let go of them and walked toward the tree.
Meeki didn't see Braya around, but two distant voices from a nearby bush. One was Braya's, and the other belonged to a younger girl. Braya was crying and almost wailing.
“You understood the consequences,” the young girl said.
Her voice was unusual. Though it wasn't much different than most girls around the age of ten, something about it inspired fear.
“I know,” Braya said, sniffling a little.
“You've been out here too long. I've been very patient in doing your work for you, but this is it. If you don't kill that man tonight, I'll punish all of you.”
“No! They don't deserve it, don't touch them!” Braya shouted.
“You've done too much. You even told that woman about her past life. How can you think that this is anything other than damage to the plan set by Neudias?”
“But she's Meeki, our old friend!” Braya moaned. “Don't you want her back? How could you threaten to hurt her?”
“Such insolent talk, I might just take you back right now, and you can be sure that I'll never let you out here again. How does eternity in stasis sound?”
“You wouldn't! You need me!” Braya wailed.
“Not as much as you think.”
The conversation was strange and some parts of it made little sense, but Meeki felt very sorry for Braya. The poor cat sounded so helpless and abused, this was certainly not something to be ignored. Meeki stepped away from the tree and approached them.
“Hey kid, shut the hell up and leave her alone!”
“Meeki!” Braya gasped. “S—Stay away, you can't stop her.”
The white gowned girl ahead of them looked eleven years old, and everything about her seemed small and insignificant. The only unusual element was the unusual neon gleam of her short and messy hair. But after only several seconds there was something inexplicable and strange about the girl's inexpressive face.
“Who are you?” Meeki asked.
“I'm the one Braya didn't want you or Lucifer to know about,” the girl said.
Meeki helped Braya up and scowled at the girl.
“Fine, then what do you want?” Meeki demanded.
“You can think of me as a representative of the one who created your planets and civilization. I'm here to give Braya a reminder about the conditions of her presence here, but I also have something for you, Meeki.”
Even if it was only a little girl, an overwhelming feeling of obedience filled Meeki. She trembled and kept quiet.
“After the assassin is defeated tonight, everyone who has been 'exposed' to Braya will have their memory erased. Everything will be returned to normal as if she never came, almost as if there were no cults or assassinations.”
Braya whimpered and quaked to the girl's threat.
“Erased? What the hell are you talking about?” Meeki asked.
“I effectively rule over these two planets. Erasure of memory is trivial.”
Meeki found it childish and silly. “I don't believe you.”
The girl shrugged. “If you fail to kill that assassin, you will all be seriously punished. If you think getting shot is bad, you haven't even begun to imagine what will happen once I get my hands on you.”
“Why are you doing this? They're innocent, they don't deserve that!” Braya almost screamed.
The girl walked to Braya and stared her in the eye. “Why? I don't care about any of you. All that matters is making sure Neudiaz's plan plays out perfectly. I must dispose of the imperfections you created.”
Braya broke down into a deluge of tears and fell to the ground. The girl laughed and stepped away, but she turned and glared at them. Seeing how this creature enjoyed Braya's pain, Meeki felt nothing but disgust.
“Meeki, you'd better go with Kiluana. If you don't, I'll make you and your family suffer for your cowardice.”
Meeki gritted her teeth. Even if the authenticity of these threatens weren't certain, she hated them nonetheless.
“That's all I need to say. Good bye.” The girl pulled off a small black device from the side of her gown. With a few button presses, a wind picked up around them. Many of the tree's fallen leaves gathered around in a tiny cyclone and picked her up off the ground. With the sound of a brief but heavy wind, she shot up into the sky like a shooting star.
Meeki watched the girl soar. It took her a few seconds to really comprehend what just happened. Strange as it seemed, all of her fear left just as quickly.
Braya's sniffled a bit. Meeki knelt down to check on the poor girl.
“Are you alright?”
Braya wiped her tears and calmed down, but she stared to the ground and didn't respond.
“Um, who was that girl?” Meeki asked.
Braya looked up to Meeki. Though her fur was still damp, she no longer cried. Rather, a new fire seemed to spark in the girl. It showed through her austere glance.
“Her name is Clara. You have to go with us to protect the administrators, she wasn't joking about punishing you. I don't know why she became so cruel, but Neudias gave her all of his tools. She's serious about everything,” Braya said.
Meeki frowned. She always heard that Neudias was such a kind and gentle being, he wouldn't just give his things to a cruel little girl like Clara. But whatever the reason, it hardly mattered now. Braya's unwavering stare made it clear that the threat was real.
“We must kill him,” Braya muttered, emotionless like an old robot. “I can't let any of you suffer because of me.”
“It's not your fault,” Meeki reminded her.
Braya's face contorted a little and she walked toward the house.
Some time later on while riding Kiluana's car, Meeki studied the sky for a minute as if expecting to find Clara somewhere up there. There was no sign of the girl, which somehow wasn't comforting. Those enemies you can't see are often the worst.