Summus Proelium

It was time. After everything that had happened, after all the distractions and problems, after what felt like years of consequences for the choices she had made (and the ones she hadn’t), it was finally time for Paige to face the music. It was time for her to take the judgment she deserved and be told what sort of monster she really was by the person most qualified to do that particular judging, the woman she had been bought to replace. Not that she had been able to do that properly anyway.

It was time for her to face Irelyn and admit all the mistakes she had made. Not just mistakes, active choices that had been wrong. All the ones she could admit to, anyway. They were still things she couldn't tell the woman, no matter how much she might have wanted to. She couldn't give away Cassidy's identity without their permission. That sort of thing had to stay secret. It wasn't hers to tell. But that, at least, was the sort of secret Irelyn would understand.

She had no idea how this was going to go, none. For the longest time, she had assumed she would never actually tell Irelyn that much of the truth, if any of it. She had seen that as impossible. What was she supposed to tell her about where she really came from, who had made her, or even why? How could she explain any of that, let alone the stuff about the Ministry and how this entire situation had come about? Before all of this had happened, she had been convinced that she would never tell Irelyn the actual truth about any of that. She had simply resigned herself to leaving the older girl permanently in the dark when it came to what her parents had actually been up to for so long, and about the devil they had sold their souls to.

But now, how could she not? After the choices she had made had led to everything it did, how could she avoid telling the woman at least as much of the truth as she could without betraying anyone else? Irelyn had been sent to Breakwater, she had almost died, she had been subjected to Sleeptalk, and so on and so on. All those things happened because Paige had lied to her about where she was and about what was going on. She sent Irelyn to Florida, and that led to… everything else. No matter what else happened, the girl deserved to know the truth about that.

It was going to go poorly. She knew that already. Admitting that she wasn't a real person, she was essentially a robot, an artificial intelligence with the copied personality from a dead girl in a biological-yet-artificial body would… it would make the older girl turn on her. Paige would have no choice but to run away. She would be on her own. But that was okay. It wasn’t as though it would be a surprise or anything. She had prepared for that certain eventuality for years. She had set up her own accounts that couldn’t be linked back to the Banners at all, had put money away to keep herself afloat. It hadn’t been hard to make it look like she was spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on new clothes and other toys while actually purchasing things from thrift stores or bargain bins. With a little work and ingenuity (to say nothing of a few hours of sewing here or there), no one had been able to tell the difference. They just thought she had her own private designers. It was sad, really, how easy it was to convince the other rich kids that something that had only cost twenty dollars was actually worth five or six hundred. She talked fast and acted as though the things she was saying about fabric and particular designs were obvious, and the others just nodded along as though they already knew that. They didn’t want to look stupid by admitting they had no idea what she was talking about.

It was the Emperor’s New Clothes, only reversed. Or something like that.

And speaking of clothes, in addition to money, Paige had disguises ready to go, along with false identification that could stand up to any level of scrutiny. And since Sierra had joined her, so had she. The two of them had been prepping for this for weeks now, off and on.

Yeah, that was right, the two of them. Because she really wouldn't be on her own, would she? She had this new sister, a sister who looked so much like Cassidy it was almost physically painful. And she had Cassidy themself, who finally remembered their friendship. Not to mention the other members of Avant-Guard. She had friends and a team and a sister and she would not be completely alone after all. Not the way she had thought she would be for so long. Not the way she had feared.

So why was she still so anxious about all this? Why is she still so terrified about how Irelyn was going to react to being told the truth about her? They had never been very close. She had always known that the few times the older girl had reached out to her to make some play at sisterhood that it had simply been an attempt at being polite. She knew there was no actual care there. Why would there be? Paige had been brought in to replace her. Their parents had disowned Irelyn and literally bought a replacement. Sure, the girl didn't know exactly how literal that was. But she did know that Paige had been brought in as a replacement for her. Why would she care about someone like that? She was probably already dreading the idea of needing to take responsibility for her adopted younger sister now that the Banners were gone.

Well, she wouldn't actually need to worry about that at all. Paige would tell her what she really was and then she would leave the other girl alone. She would abandon this identity entirely and let Irelyn inherit everything as she should have to begin with. She could have her birthright, the ones that never should've been taken away from her. One of the first things Paige had done after the deaths of the Banners was to create a false will that fully reinstated the older girl to her inheritance. It gave all of that to her, and was just waiting to be taken to court. Her life would finally be set right. It was the very least that Paige could do now.

So, are you going to go in there and see her, or just sit there for another three hours? Whatever you're doing, whatever this turns into, get the hell on with it. Chop chop. I'm getting bored over here.

The message was from Sierra, of course. It came over the text network the two of them had established with one another. They could've used voice connection as well, but it seemed that even artificial life forms would take any excuse not to call one another on the phone.

You're hustling drunks at pool in a bowling alley, Paige sent back while rolling her eyes with a glance at the mirror. I think you can find ways to entertain yourself for a few minutes. Keep your pants on and buy some more nachos or something. Or get one of the guys you're hustling to buy you some nachos. Whatever, I'm going in there in just a minute. I just need to figure out what I'm going to say to her.

There was a momentary pause before Sierra replied. Okay, first of all, I know you feel like this was all your fault, but it wasn't. Not the quarantine and everything attached to it. That was his fault. Him and Amanda. They did this. The quarantine, the Banners being dead, Sleeptalk, all of this is because of them. But yes, Irelyn was taken to that island because you sent her down to Florida. Because you decided you knew how she was going to react to something and made a choice for her. Maybe it's time to just present her with information and let her actually react instead of anticipating and reacting to everything ahead of time before it even has a chance to happen. I know we robots like to make things efficient, but come on. Let her react. She deserves that much.

Staring at herself in the mirror as she absorbed that message, Paige gave a heavy sigh before opening her car door and getting out. She didn't bother to lock the vehicle. It was parked in a secure lot inside Seraph headquarters. Besides, most likely, she wouldn’t even be coming back to the car anyway.

With those thoughts running through her mind, Paige gave what she believed would be one last glance back at the car on her way into the building. The people there were expecting her, of course. They knew she was the last legal (technical) relative of one of the patients. Although only very, very few had any idea which patient that was. They didn't have that sort of clearance.

She was given a mask to wear as she made her way through the building with the man who had come to guide her. It was similar enough to the one she wore as Poise to make the girl give a soft snort amusement despite herself. It was a noise that made the man escorting her glance that way, but she shook him off with a simple, “Sorry, I'm just glad this is over. I mean, almost over.”

The man offered her small smile of encouragement, his head bobbing easily with understanding. “Oh yes,” he agreed, “believe me, I think we can understand that. The whole city’s been through a lot.” He seemed to want to reach out to pat her shoulder, but thought better of it. Instead, he added, “I'm just glad they got the person behind it. I would ask if you can believe it was Cup the whole time, but I guess that psycho being behind something like this shouldn't be that surprising.”

“More surprising that it didn't involve more people dying,” Paige agreed in a low, dark tone. Cup of course, had tried awfully hard to kill plenty of people throughout her career. It was obvious that her claims of being forced into this were complete and total bullshit. The last Paige had heard, the bitch had been trying to twist even the revelation that she had created Sleeptalk into some sort of situation where she was forced to act that way, like she was an abuse victim. Which was so thoroughly disgusting that it made Paige hate her even more.

Still, she truly hadn't killed as many people as she could have with this particular attack. Though Paige was willing to put responsibility for every single death that had happened as a result of the reduced authority figures and increased gang violence in the quarantined city directly at Amanda Sanvers’ feet. Even in this, her hands weren’t bloodless.

By that point, they had reached the room in question. The man gave her one last look before gesturing. “You've got a good one in there,” he informed her. “Make sure she has help at home, okay? The doctor wanted to keep her longer, but she refused. Loudly and emphatically. You keep an eye on her. You'll get a number to call if there's any lingering effects. You make sure to call no matter how small or inconsequential you think they aren't, got it? We need to know.”

Wondering how the man would react if she told him Irelyn probably wouldn't want to see her ever again before the night was over, Paige simply murmured acknowledgment, then moved into the other room. She heard the door close behind her before ever looking over at the bed where the older girl would be.

Or at least, she was looking at where the girl should have been. But the bed was empty. Paige had just enough time to wonder very briefly if she had come too late and the man who had escorted her hadn't realized. Then she caught a hint of movement from the side. If she hadn't been so distracted, she would have known someone was there by the door into the bathroom the whole time. Her reflexes kicked in, and she started to twist that way, but it was too late. A figure had already crossed the distance between them and was grabbing her tightly, pinning her arms to her sides. But that was fine. If they thought that would trap her, they had another thing coming. Paige could put her heel so hard into the person's foot that it would snap. As they went down, she would put a fist in their throat and then find out exactly what they had done to Irelyn, no matter how much damage she had to inflict before they finally felt like opening their---

“Paige,” a familiar voice cut through her lightning-quick thoughts, putting a complete halt to the plan of breaking this person’s foot and collapsing their vocal cords. Which was a good thing, since the person who was talking had probably been through quite enough as it was.

Stopping short as she realized that this wasn't an attack, but a very enthusiastic hug, Paige somehow felt even more awkward and confused. She would have understood what to do with an attack, even if it was from the girl in question. Actually, given everything that had happened, being ambushed that way would have made perfect sense. A lot more than this did, anyway.

“Um,” she managed a bit weakly, body very stiff under the embrace. “What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.” That was Irelyn’s bewildering response, as she finally released the other girl and stepped back, though her hands stayed on Paige’s shoulders. She gazed at her intently. “I'm sorry I haven't been here through everything that you've been dealing with. And that you had to be here by yourself after Mom and Dad--” She cut herself off, a flash of emotions running across her face. Her voice caught in her throat as she glanced away for a second. “Sorry, they told me what happened a couple hours ago. I'm still trying to sort it all out. The memories of… of everything are a little fuzzy. I keep mixing up the dreams with reality. They said it should fade pretty soon.”

Paige had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. But she did know one thing that needed to be said. With a firm voice, she insisted, “Don't apologize for something that wasn't your fault. You were sick. You were unconscious. You couldn't do anything. And you--” She stopped, expression twisting anxiously. “I’m really sorry about your parents. I’m sorry I couldn’t--that they--”

“Didn’t you just tell me not to apologize for something that isn’t my fault?” Irelyn’s voice was a little hoarse. It was clear that, whatever her relationship with her mother and father had been, finding out they were dead was hitting her hard. She was just trying to keep it from overwhelming her in front of Paige. “Besides, you mean our parents. They were your mom and dad too, Paige.”

Before Paige could find her voice or even think of how to respond to that, Irelyn was already taking her by the hand. “Now let's get out of here. We can talk about everything when we're not in a stuffy hospital. I really can't stand these places. I know they're helpful, but seriously, I just get the heebie-jeebies around here.” With that, and as Paige finally realized the girl was fully dressed in normal clothes, Irelyn started to pull her out of the room at a brisk pace. “I need ice cream.”

It was a lot to take in, and Paige was still mentally reeling from the speed with which the other girl had latched on and begun to usher her out the door and down the hallway. Immediately, a doctor came to talk to her, but Irelyn shook him off and informed the man she would return the next day to have a physical taken. She was leaving right then because she needed fresh air and some time with her sister. Yes, she would make a record of any stray daydreams she had, yes she would record her sleep times, and yes she would take the medicine they had given her. No, she would not stay one more night, and no she didn’t need a nurse to come home with her just in case.

The next thing Paige knew, they were outside, and Irelyn was already walking toward the car that Paige had arrived in, recognizing it immediately. “Okay, I know what I said about not having side effects right now, but you might need to drive anyway. I really don’t want to fall into a daydream again and send us through a building.” She offered a faint smile then. “That’d be a quick way to end up right back in the hospital, which I’d prefer to avoid right now.”

So, Paige did the only thing she could right then. She got behind the wheel, waited for the other girl to get in the other side, then started driving. This wasn't going at all the way she had expected, to be honest. Being hugged like that had really thrown her off. But at least they were leaving the hospital. They could go somewhere more private, so she could actually get through everything she needed to. She could tell Irelyn the truth, and then deal with the consequences. Even if it was going to take a lot to explain, and she wasn’t even sure where to start.

“So,” Irelyn started after they had pulled out of the Seraph parking lot and were on the main road, “your dad’s a supervillain.”

After nearly driving the car into a building despite what the older girl had said about having her drive to specifically avoid that, Paige shot a quick glance that way, taking in the unreadable expression there.

Irelyn openly let her hang like that, frantically thinking, for a moment before continuing. “I worked that much out while we were on Breakwater. He's a very bad man who was sent there, and he wanted to have a way off that place. That's where you come in. That's why he sold you to our parents.”

Her stomach hurt. Was it possible, could her stomach actually hurt, or was that just something her programming was telling her she should be experiencing right now? When you got right down to it, did the difference matter?

Letting out a long breath, Paige started to respond, but the other girl continued. “He needed some very deep pockets and resources to pull off an escape from Breakwater. And he got them from our parents. In exchange for several things, I imagine, but also in exchange for you. He literally sold his own daughter so our parents would give him what he needed to continue affecting things in the outside world, and eventually escape.”

Her hand moved to touch Paige on the shoulder. “And you've been dealing with that ever since. He probably enlisted you into helping to put that together. Somehow, you were a part of it. My guess is that's why you disappeared when they did. They tried to betray him, tried to take you with them and go underground. Maybe because they couldn't actually get him off that island. Or maybe they had second thoughts. Either way, it… didn't work out.”

She was quiet for a moment, squeezing the other girl's shoulder before giving a long sigh. “I thought you might have been forced to make that call before, but I dismissed it. I guess I should've gone with my first instinct. I just don't know if it was your birth dad, or our parents who made you send me away.”

This was all a lot to take in. Irelyn had basically created an entire justification for what had happened that didn't involve Paige actually admitting what she really was. It was very close to the actual truth, but would allow Paige to keep her secret about being a Biolem. She could run with it. She could correct a few parts, but leave that out. She didn't need to expose the fact that she wasn't a real, living human being.

And then Paige thought about everything that had come as a result of her deceptions before, everything that Irelyn had gone through, everything the city had gone through. She thought about that before pulling the car through the gate at the Banner's house and parking. As she turned the car off, the girl came to a decision. “No, Irelyn, there's more that you need to know about. I have to tell you about--”

“What the fu--” the older girl interrupted, hand snapping up to point at a figure standing on the porch of the massive house in front of them.

“What is Echo doing here?”