Ria's Hidden Agenda

'Is this what a completely functional VR technology would feel like?' Ace wondered as Dame Wasp, in her 1/100th form, flew towards Ria's house under the starry night sky.

Through their shared senses, he could feel the cool breeze of wind brushing past her synthetic body, and experience the altitude and agility of her flight as if he were right there. Not to mention the breathtaking sight, Ace never knew flying through his neighbors' flower beds and vegetable gardens in '1/100th form' under the illumination of the porch lights and the stars would feel so adventurous.

The rush Ace felt seeing insects of the same or larger than Dame wasp's 1/100th form was just otherworldly. Dame Wasp eradicated any pesky insect that dared to target her with her insane strength, and the excitement Ace experienced was beyond what modern VR games could offer. Particularly when this one 2-inch mantis suddenly jumped out of the bushes, aiming for Dame Wasp with its blades. In response, Her cyber braid swiftly morphed and shot a laser beam, splitting it into two halves.

'Master Ace, we are here,' Dame Wasp reported with house no.69 in sight.

Beautiful transfer student / powerful curse master / rich new neighbor, these were all Ace knew about Ria. Beyond that, she was an enigma. However, Ria seems to know about Ace's school and home life. Earlier, she not only knew that they lived in the same neighborhood but did not need directions to his house. Not to forget, the array drawn with animal blood for his curse core initiation ceremony was in place even before he asked her to help. Therefore, Ace thought her helping him wasn't a coincidence or a whim but pre-planned.

Regardless of how rich Ria was, the awakening array, cursed wooden clown box, mental recovery pill, and curse core, each one of them, would have cost her a hefty sum, not to mention the time it would have taken her to draw the array with animal blood on the school roof avoiding the eyes of the school janitor and the security. This whole thing stunk of conspiracy, but Ace seemed to ignore or be forgetful of these minor details in her presence.

'Ria being beautiful and me being a virgin has nothing to do with this,' Ace denied the obvious out of pride. It was an age-old stereotype that a beautiful woman could get the virgin geek to do anything with just a smile. But Ace believed he would not be led by a woman, even if she puts out. His forgetfulness must be related to something else.

'Rose, turn on camouflage, infiltrate the house, and gather information on the target,' Ace ordered Dame Wasp.

Entering camouflage mode, Dame Wasp entered the house through the gap between the main door and its threshold. The house was empty, with no sign of any necessary furniture. Even though Ria had just moved in, the house should have had a few boxes that needed unpacking, but it had none. If not for seeing the red hellcat SUV in the driveway, Ace would have thought they had entered the wrong house.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of running tap water from above. Following the noise, Dame Wasp headed to the main bedroom on the first floor. It had a new mattress on the floor, a mini fridge by its side, and a dresser with a full-body mirror. The room was cleaner than the rest of the house. Ace noticed Ria's phone on the dresser table, along with a laptop. Then, heading to the attached bathroom, they found Ria in a bathrobe, preparing the bathtub for a soak.

'Great timing!' Ace's thought burst out and instructed Dame Wasp, 'Rose, quick, use this opportunity to hack into her phone and laptop to copy all the data in her devices. Let us see who the real Ria Hart is.'

Following Ace's instruction, Dame Wasp headed back to the dressing table. Morphing her cyber braid into a data jack, she prepared to connect to Ria's phone through the USB-C port, but just then, the phone rang. Aborting the mission, she quickly hid behind the full-body mirror. She had camouflage, but Ria was a curse master. Underestimating her would be foolish.

"Argh! Who is calling at this hour? I just added the salts to the tub," Ria complained aloud as she came out of the bathroom in a fit, but her expression turned dignified, reading the caller ID 'Loki' on the phone screen. She solemnly picked up her phone and answered the call, "Loki, I was just about to call you to give a report."

"Save your excuses for later. Did you find a candidate?" Loki asked sternly. Thanks to Dame Wasp's cybernetic hearing system, Ace could hear Loki as clearly as if he were the one answering the call.

"Not only have I found a suitable candidate fitting my requirements, but I have also contacted him. You will be happy to know he has refined his curse core and forged his innate curse tool in a single try," Ria proudly reported to Loki.

"That means his innate curse tool should be formidable. What is his innate curse tool called, and what is its ability?" Loki asked eagerly. Her anger had eased, learning the progress of Ria's mission was further ahead than she expected.

"It's called 'cursed toybox.' However, it has yet to reveal its ability to him. I have given him a curse core of a knight-tire Curseling. If he were to diligently nourish his innate curse tool then he should learn its ability in a week or two," Ria promptly informed Loki and added her titbit, "I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I feel that his innate curse tool's ability might be a storage-type curse tool."

"If it is a storage-type curse tool, as you guessed, then you will have made a remarkable contribution to our society and be rewarded with appropriate merit points," Loki acknowledged Ria's effort but warned, "Ensure you complete your cleanup thoroughly before finishing. Don't leave any loose ends. It would be a pity to deduct half of your merit points for something like that."

"Rest assured, this isn't my first time. The boy and his sister are at odds with the local gang. I will make it seem like they all died in a home invasion," Ria calmly replied as if it was a regular thing for her.

"Good to know, but send me the boy and his family's details just in case," Loki instructed.

"Sure, I will do that," Ria agreed and hung up the call. Then, placing the phone back on the dressing table, she headed to the bathroom without sharing the details Loki asked for while uttering, "Does she take me for a fool."