2 Presidential Team

"You asked me to tell you if I need anything, Candice. This is it. I need to be out of the Triad Palace just this once." I demanded while Candice is following me on my way out of the upper chamber.

"As you wish, Young Miss... but what if your father asks for your presence?"

I stopped midway. "Tell him he's such a very busy person to look for his daughter. Don't tell him my whereabouts."

And it's not like I'm escaping this place. Nobody escapes here.

Wearing a body-hugging dress that slows down my pace, I keep looking back as I almost run outside the upper chamber. I easily went out of the main hall because I asked Candice to divert the attention of the bodyguards. Now, I'm not so sure if I can get out of this palace.

Claveria has been a well-disciplined country ever since my grandfather's rulership. The labyrinth made the people bow down their heads. It is a microchip that holds people's biological and special information. Overall, it is a database of the countrymen's confidential and factual information. Thus, it is called the Labyrinth of Secrets. And I, the current president's daughter, am its vessel.

"Where d'ya think ya're going, little miss?" The familiar accentuated voice echoed in the hallway. I am heading toward the back exit, where I can't be easily noticed. I forgot that there are exceptional people guarding this place.

I turned to see Axle Abello, one of the members of the Presidential Team... and a friend of mine.

"Why are you here, by the way? I thought you're all guarding the main hall." I spat. He couldn't be here to stop me, could he?

"Silly. Is the palace open for intruders, then?" He said with humor evident on his bright expression.

Oh. If all the security agents would gather in the main hall, then who would guard the gates? Stupid, Claudia.

"Now, don't try to stop me, Axle. You may now get lost." I turned my back on him and continued walking toward the exit on the back of the palace.

"Whaddaya think ya're doing?" He asked, following my tracks. "Ya can't go somewhere or ya're gonna be a dead fry."

"I want to breathe some fresh air. Come on, you all have been depriving me of my freedom to roam around this place." I bursted out.

"Ya know yar father, Claude." He said with his strange accent.

"Just this once! I won't go anywhere far! Axle, this is my first time finally going out of the palace! And it's not like I'm going beyond the gates."

These people have been so hard on me. Axle is my friend, but he's still following my father's orders than hearing my pleas!

Fortunately, Axle refrained himself from forbidding me more. I continued walking out.

I used the last set of stairs before finally seeing the night sky. The night breeze is way more different compared to the air-conditioned rooms of the palace.

The Triad Palace is the home of the president. My mother died in an accident years ago and I am the only one left of my father. The labyrinth was passed on to him. And because he's afraid that he might become what my grandfather had become, he used me instead as an experimental carrier of the labyrinth.

The feeling is so overwhelming that I could not control my thoughts and actions whenever the labyrinth is inside me. It's like I'm dead and I don't know what I'm doing. The labyrinth has completely took over my senses. And when it gets discharged, it's like my insides are being restored, and my memories are starting to come to me. But I never remembered what I've done during those times that the labyrinth has been controlling me.

I walked farther so I could see the Triad Palace from afar. It stood majestically like one of those palaces in movies. It has two big towers on its sides called the side chambers. The upper chamber is where we stay.

People would be in awe while staring at the palace from outside the gates. There's a fountain at the end of the hallway, just in front of the palace. On the sides are the garden blooming with different colors of different kinds of flowers. I love holding the flowers when I was a kid. I used to wander around the garden. I used to bloom with it.

Here in the backyard, there's a bigger garden and a bridge atop the large pond. The dark night and the bushes almost as tall as me is hiding me from anyone's sight.

I sat on the edge of the bridge and stared at the sky above. Look at the moon and the stars, shining brightly and free under the darkness. How I wish I was this radiant even on my darkest days.

My tranquil thoughts got shaken because of the noises I heard from the Triad Palace. I remained sitting on the end of the bridge, silently thanking the bushes for hiding me. I picked some small stones and threw it to the pond.

The noises became louder. Now I'm sure those are the security agents looking for me.

Minutes later, the noises fade away. I bet they stopped looking for me. I wonder if Axle told them that I went this way. Hm, nobody seems to notice.

I stood up from where I am sitting.

"Caught you. The tables have finally turned, huh?" A low voice in a mocking yet devoid of humor tone.

I almost fall down because of the sudden shock. I turned to see who it is. On the other end of the bridge, someone stood firmly, gazing at me like I am a prey he caught effortlessly.

The moonlight showered upon him, highlighting his dark and hooded eyes, half silhouetted perfect nose, and firm clenched jaw. Now I recognize! This is the man from earlier!

"Why are you after me?" I asked, tensed.

"Time to go back."

"But I just came out! Who are you, anyway?" I knew his name, alright. But that's all!

"Everyone's looking for you..." his brows raised and moments later, he creased it. His brows met, like he's suddenly confused of something. "How come you don't know me?"

"How am I supposed to know you?"

"You were the one who caught me." His face is saying that I should know about what he's talking about.

I got wonder-struck by what he just said. I caught him? I certainly have no recollection of that scenario! How, when and why?

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"You don't remember two or three weeks ago?" His low voice sent chills down my spine. "Why are you playing dumb at me?"

I am not playing dumb! Two or three weeks ago... Candice told me I was asleep for two weeks! That only means the labyrinth took over my body the time before I was asleep! Two to three weeks ago, I was used for the labyrinth. I seriously don't remember what the E-Claudia has been doing.

"Oh? S-So you were... that man." I gulped and avoided his gaze. I don't know what I did to him! What should I say?

His brows remained creased.

"M-Maybe you're right. I think I should g-go back." I immediately turned away before he can fire another question. Stupid, why did I stutter?

On my way back to the back door of the chamber, Candice met me.

"Your father has been looking for you, Young Miss. We were told to look for you because of something important." She followed as I hurriedly walked toward the elevators.

As we got inside, I wasted no time.

"What do I look like when the labyrinth uses me?"

"Uh..." she stared somewhere in the corners of the elevator. "You still look like you, Young Miss."

"Anything else? More specific details please. What do I always do?"

Candice seems to be wondering because this is the first time that I'm asking her questions about my behavior. If I hadn't been questioned by some arrogant-looking presidential agent, I wouldn't be this restless.

"Hmm, you look bolder than your usual self."

"And?" I don't remember myself being bolder than how I do now.

"You're scary. You know how to fight."

"Are you saying that I am physically strong?"

She nodded. "Not just that. You are mentally clever, Young Miss. Yet..."

I waited for her to continue. "Yet what?"

"The labyrinth has stored so many information. You could never contain all of those. Almost everything in the surface web is stored in the labyrinth that's why your electronic self is very much clever. You're like an artificial intelligence with no life, no feelings. You work like a normal human being but you don't feel everything. So far, that's all I know, Young Miss." She said with hesitation. I think she's always hesitating to tell me everything she knows because she's wary of my reaction.

"That's fine. Am I also used for dangerous tasks?"

"Of course, Miss Claudia."

"Really? I have no recollection about it."

"You do dangerous tasks." She stated.

"Why? I thought I'm always stuck in the Triad Laboratory."

"People have always thought that the labyrinth is hidden. They don't know that they've already interacted with it without them knowing."

"Why am I always out? I thought the labyrinth is the president's brain?" I asked out of confusion. Even I have no knowledge about this.

"You are a member of the Presidential Team."