Rationale

SHAY

Shay Zephanie narrowed her eyes. Sitting inside the crystal prison was the girl named Ava.

Marcus said that she and Ava should be well acquainted.

However, she begged to disagree. There was no way that she would ever come near that little girl who looked so much like her.

She found it so strange. Their resemblance was striking. It was if they were born out of the same womb.

If Shay didn't know better, she would have thought that she had a long lost twin sister who might have gotten lost in the hospital. At least something like that.

Something believable.

Something she can grasp.

She felt like she was blindly following Marcus.

There was no certainty that he could find the cure.

Shay Zephanie knew that her condition was incurable.

In her young mind, she understood that she was meant to die at an early age. She might not even reach her sixteenth birthday, let alone ten or eleven.

Somehow, her replica seemed not to share her illness. She seemed healthy, vibrant.

It appeared that she was, basically, her perfect version.

Maybe that was why Marcus had created Ava. Maybe Marcus wanted to show her what she would look like when she gets better. Or perhaps he was simply being his plain crazy self. After all, Marcus Zephanie was a man of science. Doing some experiments was what he lived for.

When Marcus Zephanie introduced them to each other, Shay had pulled a tantrum. She didn't intend to cause some drama. Yet, she was unable to stop herself. Not that she hated Ava. But it was because she abruptly felt ugly.

Ava was strikingly beautiful despite being skinny, like her, and she seemed nice, unlike her.

She didn't have the scars though.

Of course, she wouldn't.

The scars were a result of Shay Zephanie's frustrated anger. She wanted to see her mother. She wanted to go back and tell her parents that she was alright.

She just wanted to see them. Period.

So, she began hurting herself.

It was her way of willing Marcus to send her away. Maybe, he would give up and just return her to her family.

After a little while, Ava seemed to have sensed her staring. She turned towards her.

She appeared to be unfazed. There was no trace of any emotion evident in her expression. Which, perhaps, was the common ground between them.

Lately, she noticed that she hardly cared about anything anymore. She didn't even feel sorry for acting up earlier or for causing a scene. It was as if the lab, Marcus' lair, was starting to change her.

Was that even possible?

Could a place really invoke a change in people?

These thoughts were what kept her busy.

Ava was still staring at her.

She tried to offer a smile. But then, at the last minute, she changed her mind as she realized one thing: She and Ava can never be friends.

Shay Zephanie blinked. Coming back to the present, she put down the chopsticks.

She didn't like ramen.

Apparently, Ava did, and the detective must have noticed.

It took him long enough, though.

Shay let out a sigh.

If what she had witnessed back at the medical building was genuine, she should have been more careful. But then, there was nothing she could do about it now. She can only await her confession to the detective.

Physically, it was difficult to tell them apart. But, personality wise, they were not identical.

It was only a matter of time before anyone would notice how different she may have been before the incident.

Shay Zephanie leaned back on the chair and let the soothing music around the place called La Boutique serenade her while the detective was nowhere in sight.

It was then that she suddenly heard a man's voice calling her attention on the earpiece hidden on her left ear.

"Shay." She smirked at his tone.

"It appears that you have underestimated the detective." She said, casually pretending that she was talking to someone over the phone to avoid raising suspicions.

"I suppose." There was a brief pause.

"He's with Ava, right there, right now." Shay Zephanie wasn't surprised.

"Ah, Marcus finally decided to release her. I wonder at what price."

Ava wasn't supposed to have been taken by Marcus.

Unfortunately, he somehow figured out this tiny detail about their plan and had decided to beat them at it by getting to Ava first.

Partly, she might be the one to blame for that.

She should have waited until Ava was securely taken care of instead of leaving her.

Still, that was out of her control.

What happened has already happened.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Marcus seemed to have triggered the poison." It was her turn to be speechless.

A tiny bit of hope sprung from the bottom of her heart upon hearing that. However, a tiny part of her was somehow torn between feeling sorry for Ava or feeling nothing at all.

"He must be close to finding the cure."

"Maybe." Shay silently mused.

She didn't want to raise her hopes up. Yet, she couldn't help it.

Could this be the moment that she had been waiting for?

A cure? Did Marcus really find a cure?

"Don't keep your hopes up though. We don't know anything certain yet." She wanted to feel bad about that comment. But then, the other person on the other end of the line has a point, and she can't deny that.

"I only raised it by thirty percent."

"In the real-life scenario, you should lower it down by ten percent."

"Gee, thanks, genius." She said, laying a bit of sarcasm.

"We're on the same side, Shay. I honestly want you to get better." And she believed him. Even so, there were hundreds or even thousands of reasons not to trust him. Not to trust anybody for that matter.

"Are we?" She smirked yet again, challenging him.

Shay Zephanie had, by some means, developed trust issues when she realized that Marcus lied about her mother waiting for her happy return.

She felt betrayed even though she was the one to blame. In her defense though, she didn't know that the return ticket to her parents was non-existent.

Because of Marcus, she had come to believe that everyone was lying.

Everyone has a secret, a hidden agenda. Finding genuine people these days was difficult and very rare.

"Unless you chose to betray me, then our alliance is over."

"I'm very good at keeping my end of the bargain. You need not worry about me. Worry about yourself instead. After all, this is only the beginning."

There was silence from the other end of the line once again as her colleague might be pondering how to respond.

"I can handle myself, Shay. Thank you very much". Shay Zephanie can't help but chuckle.

"Really? We'll see about that Hero. We'll see how long you can handle your feelings for Ava at bay."