Preparations

"I'm going shopping." Ayla turned the knob to the apartment hallway; she had no intention of facing the monster behind her.

"Have fun, make sure to be back within two hours," Deici smiled at her back from the living room, watching as her arm tightened around the bag strap on her shoulder. "I'll be here, call if you need anything. Remember I will come for you when your time is up."

"I will keep that in mind" she replied, exiting the apartment a scowl on her face. She pressed the call button and looked back at the intricately designed doors, this would be the last she saw it, she remembered the first time she had seen them, the awe and admiration she felt. Ayla turned to enter the open doors of the elevator. 'Good riddance' she thought as the pressed the button to the ground floor.

...

Typhon stared at the new orders given to him by the G.E.D.A. He knew it was inevitable; with the progressing research and technology of R-Clash and Deici volatile and unpredictable nature drastic steps would need to be taken to complete the prototype. He knew the job would be assigned to him, he felt like every choice, either his or Deici's would have led to the same outcome. Ayla and Arcadia were regrettable collateral damage he wished wasn't necessary, hoped he could save them from the fate G.E.D.A had orchestrated for them. He had a plan to save them both…and himself. He closed his eyes, hoping Ayla would not be reckless. Deici had been dropping hints like bolder from a cliff face about the hit she had survived, it appeared that her disdain of him had kept her from paying close attention to anything he said. If she found out… "She won't!" He reassured himself as he left the parking lot. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut a little longer and stay away from Arcadia and anyone else, at least until he could finish this job, then maybe...maybe they could both get out of this alive...he doubted he was that lucky...he never was.

He knew that eventually Deici would be on the hit list of both the G.E.D.A. and R-Clash but it had happened faster than he anticipated. He unintentionally shivered as if touched by a ghost remembering the icy stare Deici had given him. Was that the real person hiding under the façade of childish indifference, or was that the real him, he hoped it wasn't. That monster that showed itself, that slipped past when things went awry was not to be trifled, his instincts told him that much, and they had never led him astray. If he danced with that persona he would die. He had to catch a plane back home, no private jet for him. His thoughts shifted to Zeus as he neared the airport. That bastard no doubt expected him to die completing this job, whether by Deici's hand or one of his hired assassins. Typhon was determined to survive them both, the element of surprise was on his side with Deici, and Zeus foolishly underestimated his abilities. Deici was not the only person with augmentations and his were tailor made for his fighting style and strength, although he rarely used them, afraid the wrong person might take notice. He would need every advantage to survive the next forty-eight hours. "More than enough time to kill a monster and save the damsels," he whispered as he approached the check-in desk.

...

Ayla got out of the taxi she had hailed. She was three miles outside the capital of Neo Syncreta, Senso-Vatica, and in front of her stood Basilica Grand Mall. She paid the taxi and walked to the teleportation hub. She used cash to pay for her trip to Vale Sanctuary, Arcadia would be waiting for her there with everything they would need to escape.

As she waited for her turn to step into the teleporter she thought back to the previous night when she had decided she would leave and put her plan into action.

They said they had bugged her, but her skin had no identifiable marks, no sutures, no bruises and definitely no lump and bump under her skin. The day of her imprisonment in the apartment she had checked every inch of her body. On her errands over the next few months, she had been to the dentist for an x-ray faking pain in her gums, she had been to the gynecologist pretending to be embarrassed at having lost a tampon 'up there' and asking for a scan after the doctor could not find anything. He was understanding, stating that it happened more often than he would like to admit. Neither the x-ray nor the scan had revealed any foreign bodies. Defeated she had given up and tried to resign herself to her fate hoping that she would have the chance to save both her and Arcadia. Yesterday her determination to find the bug had returned and opened her mind to another possibility. She had stripped naked and stood in front of the mirror. After examining herself thoroughly again, she realized that her earrings looked slightly bigger than she remembered. Could she be that dumb? After taking them out and inspecting them she practically face palmed herself. She had removed them for the x-ray and had not noticed the small tracking device visible through the tinted glass 'gems'. Where were her diamonds? Those earrings had been an expensive birthday gift from Arcadia. No, forget about them, she needed to focus on getting out of there now she had found the bug. She placed the earrings back in her ears and berated herself for being so stupid, "degree in robotics, I'm a joke." Angry tears escaped her eyes.

This morning after leaving the apartment she had run the two blocks to the mall looking for a place to leave her earrings. She had surveyed the mall looking for a target. A mother was pushing a baby carriage with a smaller child holding onto her hand, they were approaching the elevator, the woman already looking a bit overwhelmed. She walked over. As anticipated the mother was trying to maneuver the stroller into the elevator while keeping a grip on the arm of the toddler. Ayla offered her assistance taking the stroller so she could pick up the toddler, and as they rode to the fourth floor she slipped the earrings into the flap behind the stroller, out of sight of the mother and prying hands of the toddler. The woman thanked her as he helped her push the stroller onto the landing. She smiled and pushed the button for the ground floor, hailing the taxi as soon as she exited the building. She hoped that this distraction would buy her the time she needed to put distance between herself and Deici, she was really worried that his boast about being able to track DNA was not just bluster. She had never heard of the ability and tried to push it to the back of her mind as she stepped into the transporter.

Ayla wasted no time as she stepped out of the depot a few miles from Vale Sanctuary. She needed to find a cab, but first she needed to ask for help from the one person she felt she could trust other than Arcadia. She asked a gentleman sitting on a bench to borrow his phone telling him her phone had died and she needed to make an emergency call, the stranger obliged. She has actually left her phone, turned off, in her bedside cabinet before leaving this morning. She took a slip of paper from her handbag, she had removed it from its hiding place the night before, the number of Detective Themis.

When he answered she said "It's Ayla Phos and I know who bombed the Tower, meet me at Vale Sanctuary now, they are after me and I won't be there long. I'll be at the cabin in the woods, this isn't my phone so don't call back." She disconnected the call and deleted the number before the detective could say anything.

She jumped into the first cab she saw and said, "Valour Cabin, fast as you can."

The cab sped off and she sank back into the comfortable seat, mentally patting herself on the back for pulling off the first stages of impromptu escape plan.