Annika X Erica [2]

Chapter Sixteen: Annika X Erica [2]

Seated on opposite sides of an 8-seater dining table was a pair of beauties that were mirror images of each other if one looked past detail like makeup, mannerisms, and outfit.

They both had scarless chocolate skin, blue hair that they made into braids, and striking golden eyes.

"So, how's it been like up there?" Erica spoke first, picking up a glass if rum that one of her guards had already moved to pour for her – knowing her taste and all.

Annika sighed deeply, taking another sip of her drink before answering;

"What do you think? Nothing ever changes. Those fools up there never… change. I am actually starting to believe that my time would be better spent letting them be. I could turn my attention to other things."

"Sigh. It is to be expected, no? When they were giving someone like you that position instead of other superhumans, did I not warn you?" Erica was blunt with her words, not shying away from mentioning her elder sister's lack of strong superhuman ability.

"They clearly just wanted a puppet that they could control." She added, folding her arms beneath her twin F cup peaks.

"For them, your rapport with the supposed "commoners" had no meaning if all it would take was a little effort on their part to have you eliminated. Even a normal drive by shooting would be enough to get you down, and it would be difficult for 'that man' to pin on any one of them since no superhumans were involved."

"It would just be tagged a case of insurgency or something. They could even use it as an opportunity to create a "rebellion" and go all out to wipe out all those officials that have been siding with you and getting on their nerves." She added the last part while making deliberate eye contact with Annika.

Annika's expression does not change much but she rests her head in her right hand, her elbow on the table.

Not reacting negatively, or at all, at her sister's mention of her less-than-super state, she says; "I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this but, you honestly did not expect me to back down that easily, did you?"

Erica scoffed and said; "Of course not."

She shook her head with a smile as she added; "The 'iron' in 'Iron Minister' did not appear out of nowhere and for no reason you know? You've been that way since that day."

By 'that day' she was referring to the day that her sister turned 18. It was at that point that she officially was declared a 'dud' as she failed to awaken her ability any further.

Since that day, her sister had changed to become an entirely different person. She seemed to have steeled her heart, deciding to do whatever it took to climb to great heights – pushing to see as far as she could go.

She seemed to have become what one would call a daredevil, making moves that could and in some cases definitely would put her in danger.

"And what about you, little sister?" It was Annika's turn to maintain deliberate eye contact with the other

of the twins as she spoke bluntly.

"You still have yet to stop your bedroom activities. Since that same day, you changed as well." She spoke. "At least my reasons are somewhat obvious… but you, I just can't wrap my head around it. It has been, what now, fourteen years? And you still refuse to tell me anything."

"What could have happened on my birthday that caused you to become like this… This still bothers me a lot."

Hearing her elder sister's words, Erica's body seemed to go tense for a moment, from Annika's point of view, but for her? Her ability had kicked in on its own, stretching time out for her so much so that she relived the events of that night.

"You also stopped being close to all the adults in the family, especially uncle, since that day."

Every time that Erica heard her siter refer to 'that man' as 'Uncle', she felt a sting in her heart.

She still could not bring herself to speak the truth, even though nothing had actually happened to her in the end as their father showed up, fearing that it would be too much for sister to bear.

Hell, Annika adored their uncle, more so than their late father. Aside from herself, the man was her sister's whole world.

As for their mother… that one was a "can of worms" type topic on its own. Reserve that one for another day.

Stifling the urge to just let go and spill all the beans – the truth about that vile man whose touch she could never wash off her body no matter how many men she forced into her bed – she clenched her fists underneath her armpits and said in a tone as casual as she could feign;

"Why did you come here, Anne? Is there some important business?" she changed the subject, smoothly avoiding the topic.

"Oh? That? Yeah, I did." The older twin sat up with a deep exhale, taking another sip of her glass of juice before dipping her right hand into her blazer and whipping out a small red bead.

Bringing it close to her wristwatch, there is a low droning sound – a resonance between the two items.

"Baron." She called out the name of their uncle, which actually doubled as a password for her watch.

The watch received her voice, and analyzed it – confirming that it is not a recording – before a blue holographic screen popped up.

No onlooker (Erica, Annika, and the guard stationed nearby to receive any orders either of the sisters may have) was surprised by this scene, something that would have caused Hudson to go wide-eyed in shock.

Annika ignored the other items on the screen and directly tapped the option that read [Warehouse].

As it opened, one could see a lot of small squares (actually just 9 by 9 making a total of 81) with images of various items with their names right under them.

Out of 81, only about 13 of the slots were filled.

Tapping the 13th slot (the one that contained the most recent item addition) that was named "For Erica" a dim gray glow radiated from the watch before a rectangular white file floated out of the watch, hovering in the air above it for a moment before falling down to enter Annika's hand.

"I can't wait till this thing is able to carry foods and drinks." She muttered before turning her attention to her younger sibling and offering her the file. "Here."

Erica who received it, asked; "What is it?"

"Open it and find out for yourself." Annika answered. "I'm sure you will find it to be… interesting."

Erica who opened the file and started reading the information replied soon after;

"Indeed. This seems interesting." She nodded, taking another sip of her drink. Smacking her lips in satisfaction, she added:

"A new speedster out of nowhere? It seems I'll get to stretch my legs a bit."