Virgo Edwards

Arcturus found it hard to believe Sophia and Murphy's daughter Virgo was standing across from him. While she looked like a younger version of Sophia, the aura she radiated was much different. Despite the fact that Sophia had a hot temper, she had a kind face. Murphy was calm and gentle. They were friendly and kind people and they radiated that same aura. However, such wasn't the case for Virgo. The only resemblance she had was with her mother, but even her face wasn't as kind. Everything else about her oozed sinister.

Her blue eyes scanned the area in front of her. When hers met his, he noticed that her pupils were dilating rather erratically; her gaze gave off an unsettling feeling as a result. It was impossible for humans to have their pupils dilate at such a pace. The only thing he could recall that could move as fast as her pupils were camera lenses. A shocking revelation came to him, but he tried his best to not show it on his face as she was an opponent who looked like she could attack them at any moment.

Her gaze then moved past his eyes as she took the opportunity to scan the rest of the area before fixating her gaze on Asteria. She plastered an effortless smile on her face as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello, Asteria. It's been such a long time, hasn't it? Twenty years, I assume?" Her voice was rather monotonous, as if she was reading aloud from a script. She didn't seem to make an effort to enunciate her tone, so it made her feel rather robotic.

"You're the one who sent that Shiftie here, right?"

"Of course. I am in charge of all the Shifties on this island. All of them are under my command."

She approached the fallen buck's limp body. "Shifties were created to be perfect, but how can they be if they have one fatal weakness?"

Arcturus became worried as he heard very meek footsteps from her. He wondered if the coat was blocking out the sound or if her footsteps have always been quiet.

She raised an arm. The long sleeve fell back and revealed a gloved hand that turned into a large shotgun. This shocked Arcturus to the point that he tried to rush over towards her, but was stopped by Asteria.

"541-BCK, you had only one job yet you failed it horribly. I thought you were better than your sister, 541-DR, but I guess that theory was incorrect. I have no more use for you." The shotgun started flashing, but Constance rushed towards her and attempted to kick her. Virgo was able to detect the attack coming towards her as she jumped back, failing her attempt to kill her Shiftie. Her hand reverted back to normal in the process.

"Oh, 541-DR, you were here."

"You knew I was here the entire time."

"Ah, yes. I ignore anything that's insignificant to me. They're stressful and in order to not accumulate stress, I block them out of my thoughts."

Constance shielded her brother from Virgo. Seeing her protectiveness caused Virgo to sigh. "Fine. I won't destroy 541-BCK. What a pain…"

She then gazed back on Asteria. "If my most trusted servant can't handle this job, I'll just have to do it. So, Asteria, please tell me where the Charlatan is. We're pals, right?"

"I won't answer to my sister's dog."

Virgo sighed again. "Such a hassle." She then made eye contact with Arcturus, which caused her to approach him with her curious gaze glued to his. He took a few steps back when she leaned forward a bit too closely.

His heart dropped when the woman used both of her hands to hold his cheeks. She tilted his head to the left to get a good look at his left ear. "A yellow earring. Are you a Shiftie? I've never seen a model so human-like. Where were you made?"

Baffled, Arcturus shoved her off of him. "Pardon? I'm not a Shiftie. I'm just an ordinary human. This earring used to belong to my Shiftie friend who died sacrificing himself to save my life."

Wait, why am I talking to the enemy so casually? She's after Nova!

Virgo took a few steps back as she hummed. "As long as the earring is intact, Shifties do not die. They're still alive. All they need is a new vessel with the earring intact."

"But a new vessel doesn't make them the same. Kori won't be Kori even if his body is different."

"Is that so? Let me prove you wrong, then." She took a step forward and snatched the earring from his ear.

Pulling it out from his ear so forcibly caused Arcturus to yelp as he took a few steps back with a hand on his left ear. He took a good look at his hand and saw some blood on his palm. Virgo looked at his earring in awe–the first time he saw some emotion within her.

"Give that back!"

When he approached her, she used her free hand to change it into a gun once more. She pointed it at him. "You want it back? Then, tell me where the Charlatan is. I know you are with him."

"So, you saw through the Shifties' eyes, then?"

"Of course. All of them have cameras and everything they see is sent to me. I saw you through M541-WLF's eyes. You work with the Charlatan. So, tell me. Where is he?"

Arcturus deduced the only reason this woman had approached him was so she could bargain his earring for Nova. He didn't want to lose either of them. His response was to stay silent.

In addition to expressing awe, Virgo could also express her annoyance. "Fine, if you're not going to tell me. I'll just find him myself. He's not in this area so he must be below." She made a beeline towards the lower floor. Marlo rushed to block her while Esta tried shooting at her. Her bullets missed her target while Virgo shoved Marlo aside as she jumped down flawlessly.

Arcturus rushed after her. He just hoped Hilbert, Sophia and Murphy were safe alongside Nova. Once he got to the living room, he saw Virgo pointing her arm gun at Sophia and Murphy. Nova was in Murphy's arms. Along with Hilbert, the other hooded figures brandished their weapons at her; they ranged from guns to tasers. He activated his bangle to summon his dagger and readied himself for potential strife.

Sophia and Murphy were shocked to see her; Arcturus noticed their lips quivering. He wondered what sort of internal turmoil they had seeing the sight of their daughter they wanted to reunite with pointing a gun at them.

Virgo hummed. "Father, Mother. It's been such a long time. Twenty years, I assume?"

"Virgo…" Sophia whispered.

"Father, that man you're holding is dangerous. Please hand him over to me."

Murphy's eyebrows furrowed as he refused. "You may be our daughter whom we missed so much, but pointing a gun at your parents makes you even more dangerous. Put it down and we can discuss."

"There's really no need to. I need him as soon as possible."

"Listen to your parents, Virgo." Sophia pleaded in a commanding tone.

"Are you still upset about what happened twenty years ago? Is that why you refuse to comply with me? If that's the case. I'm sorry for making a big deal out of that. Now, will you hand him over?" Because of her monotonous tone, it was hard to tell if her apology was genuine. To Arcturus, it felt as if she was apologizing just to get it out of the way.

"That's no apology." Sophia retorted.

"I said I'm sorry, right? Apologizes are always said with saying sorry. I did that. You two forgive me. Now that you did, hand him over."

Annoyed, Sophia yelled, "Since when do you decide that for us?"

"Association with him means you'll be branded as criminals. I'm sure you don't want that. That's why you should hand him over. If you do, I'll spare all of you."

There was a tinge of uneasiness welling up within Arcturus. Although Sophia and Murphy were very kind enough to give them shelter, he wasn't necessarily sure if strangers like them would be prioritized over their own biological daughter. He gripped the handle of his dagger tightly. Any unwarranted actions would cause him to move.

"Call us criminals or fugitives, then. I don't care! Even if we wanted to hand him over, we won't do it in your current state. Not like this."

"I see, then…"

Arcturus couldn't see her expression, but he assumed she was mad because her monotonous voice, one where it hadn't changed in pitch since her arrival, sounded lower to him.

"You leave me with no choice. I don't care if you are my parents. If you do not comply with my commands, I will end both of you."

Before Arcturus started dashing in order to protect both of them, the person in the green hood lunged to shield both of them, but Virgo's bullet hit the right shoulder. The person leaned back before taking a few steps back. The hood had fallen off, revealing a man with ash blond hair, pale blue eyes and his skin sweating bullets due to the pain on his shoulder. He looked like he was in great pain, but he still mustered up the strength to speak.

"How could you even think about killing your own parents, Virgo?"

"It's you…" The sight of him caused her to lower her arm, surprising Arcturus.

"Why have you changed for the worse?"

She didn't respond.

"Answer me, Virgo!" He winced in pain after he yelled.

She lowered her head. "Why are you here, Bootes?"