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Bastet has always been more upbeat and high-spirited than Anubis. When the higher-ups assigned her as his new partner, he questioned their decision, reminding them that he works more efficiently by himself. Knowing him to be a by-the-books type of guy, they simply reminded him of their policy of assigning veterans to guide the new recruits and with that, Anubis dropped his protest. One introduction later, Anubis and Bastet set out for their first patrol as partners. Her lack of experience doesn’t surprise him but the fact that she has no prior connection to crime investigation does puzzle him. She didn’t strike him as someone who would go out and join the force. Still, he figures she has her reasons and given how she is a Modifier like him, it’s not like she will entirely be in his way.
Overtime, Bastet’s disposition grew on him despite his initial refusal. He grew accustomed to her company during quiet hours on missions and likewise, she appreciates his. He assures himself that whatever bond they form is only to ensure they work better as a team. This doesn’t stop her from being open towards him and although he maintains his distance, he does appreciate being someone she confides with.
It was the start of another week for the Egregious Crimes Department. The smell of the coffee momentarily takes Anubis out of the scene laid in front of him: new stacks of paperwork on his desk. He had hoped to get a head start on his paperwork by visiting the office during the weekend on his free time. Instead, the stacks on his desk looked as if he never begun anything. He sets his coffee down at a safe proximity from the documents and begins to work.
One by one, the files began to deplete; before long it was lunchtime. Anubis was so buried in his work he almost didn’t notice.
“Hey, Anubis,” greeted his coworker. “Is Bastet around?”
Anubis pauses. Bastet usually makes her presence known with a jovial greeting first thing in the morning. It would appear he missed that. But a quick glance to the desk next to him tells him that she is in fact, not around.
“She’s not in yet,” he answers. Bastet wasn’t normally tardy but the couple times she was, Anubis knew it was because she was out offering help to others. These extra errands would range from helping an elderly person cross the street to doing a few breakfast deliveries. As her senior, the most he can tell her was to be mindful of her time so as to not be tardy again.
“Well, a client left something for her as a thank you. Could you pass this on?”
Anubis takes the bag and checks the content. It was a box of cupcakes. On the cover was a handwritten letter. He decides to leave it on her desk for when she arrives. He glances over every now and then but Bastet never arrives.
The day stretches on and Anubis was beginning to think how strange it was she didn’t show up without prior notice. A few coworkers had stopped by asking where she was. By the time Anubis was wrapping up, he had already made up his mind to look for her. The bag on her desk remains exactly where he left it. He contemplates before grabbing it and heading out to her residence.
The air was chilly outside the building and the streetlights flickered to life as Anubis makes his way on the street. His eyes scan around, hoping to see a cat beret amongst the bustling crowd but no such luck.
Bastet’s apartment building was a short ride away from her workplace. Once inside, Anubis made his way to her unit. He stood outside and tried her door. There was no response. He knocks again and the silence in the hallway seems to make it louder. Anubis was beginning to worry. Has something happened? It’s not like she was out on a mission as he would have known that. On his next attempt, he tries using the spare key she gave him. Bastet had given it to him as a show of good faith. “It’s for emergencies!” she exclaimed. “Besides, I trust you, Senpai.” Anubis was too busy figuring out what emergencies would constitute a visit to her residence. Nonetheless, he accepts, albeit half-heartedly. At the time, he couldn’t imagine needing it.
Anubis peeks his head inside and calls for her. Still nothing. He flicks the light switch and takes a look around. Bastet’s residence was subtle and refined. Nothing suggested disorder. He notices a couple of paintings on the wall depicting ballet aesthetics. A shelf below contained an array of dance accolades and framed photographs of Bastet in costume; a couple ones depicted a beautiful alabaster feline. A frame in the corner shows a more recent photo collage of Bastet’s academy class and shots of her at the Egregious Crime Department. One even included a photo of him and Bastet together; a candid shot taken during one of their early missions.
Anubis tried other rooms and still no sign of Bastet. As he stands in her bedroom, he finally gets the idea to contact her via communicator. Why he never thought of this sooner escapes him but his effort still proved fruitless as a beeping was heard on a nearby nightstand. Curious, he approaches it and finds she left her communicator. He catches a glimpse of a tiny calendar with today’s date circled with a marker.
He returns to the living room puzzled by these clues. The calendar suggests today was of importance for Bastet but what it was he remains unsure of. Her communicator left behind could be intentional and she did not intend to be reached today. As he thinks it over, Anubis’ gaze falls to the shelf once again.
Suddenly stricken with realization, he swiftly grabs for his things and leaves the place as it was.
Twenty minutes later, he finds himself standing in front of an abandoned dance studio. The entrance was in disrepair. Anubis carefully passes through the worn-out caution tapes. He quietly makes his way inside and finally finds Bastet in the center of what appears to be a rehearsal room.
She was sat on the floor facing one of the wall-sized mirrors. She also appeared to be wearing ballet shoes. The reflections were dull and dirtied but it soon became clear to Bastet that she was no longer alone. Her senses heightened and she reflexively reached for her Night Blades. In that same moment, she realized her visitor was only Anubis and her stance relaxes. The scene made Anubis think of a cat being startled and showing its claws.
“Senpai?! What are you doing here?”
Anubis holds out the bag to her. “A client left this for you as a show of their gratitude. There is also a letter.”
He settles down beside her as she opens the bag and reads the letter. Anubis gives her time to read it. After a moment, she simply smiles at the letter and tucks it back in the envelope.
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“S-Something just told me you’d be here.” Anubis clears his throat before he continues, “I was worried something must have happened to you so I stopped by your apartment to look for you. You didn’t inform me ahead of time you were going to be truant.”
Bastet almost laughs at how professional he is despite it being past work hours. But she smiles at his concern. She opens the bag and takes out a couple of cupcakes. She offers one to her senior who just realized he hasn’t had dinner yet. The two of them take a few bites in silence before Anubis decides to ask.
“Today was your awakening, isn’t it?”
Bastet flashes him a look. That’s Senpai for you. She smiles. It was now her turn to explain.
“Years before CORG, before I was awakened, I was part of a ballet company called Solana Academy. We weren’t anything like the big schools in Omorfies but I loved our work here and the woman who ran it was a lovely person.”
Anubis’ eyes wander around the room, as if trying to picture the story. The clutter and darkness were instead replaced with a brightly lit room with a session in progress. Her look tells him that he was correct to assume this was her old ballet school.
“It was also during my time here when I found my cat, Odette,” Bastet adds.
“Odette? The protagonist of Swan Lake?”
Bastet chuckles. “Aw Senpai! You know!”
“I read it a long time ago. That’s as far as I can recall,” he clarifies.
Her smile never leaves as she continues. “I named her Odette because I had just gotten the lead in Swan Lake that day. I took her home with me right then and there.” Bastet’s smile turns into a melancholic one.
“I loved my life as a ballerina. I loved performing on stage and making people happy. I was content where I was as long as I have Odette.” The sparkle in Bastet’s two-toned eyes did not escape Anubis. “But it seems Gaea had other plans.”
Anubis recalls the pictures of a white cat in Bastet’s residence. But the lack of pet amenities makes him understand. She continues.
“On the night of my awakening, there was a storm. Odette had gotten out and I was looking for her. On our way home, I saw this monster stalking somebody. I have never seen anything like it before yet I suddenly knew what it was and what I had to do.”
Bastet went on to tell him about how she managed to save the passerby by eradicating the visbane with her new powers but not before it was able to take out her cat who took a hit meant for her.
“My first visbane encounter cost the life of my dear Odette. Every time there are thunderstorms, I am reminded of that night.” Bastet pauses before she adds, “I’ve racked my brain since, questioning why I was chosen to shoulder this responsibility. I had just been given this power to protect humanity yet I could never protect my beloved cat. I saved that person, not like they knew they were in danger in the first place, but my duty was done. At the time, I’ve never felt so alone.”
Silence takes over as the weight of emotions dissipate. Unexpectedly, Anubis was the first to break it.
“You’re not alone,” he said summoning Upu from his Access Key. The entity manifested in front of them. Despite its fragmented appearance, it mimics the form of a canine observing them. Bastet was a little perplexed by his action.
“Upu wasn’t always like this,” Anubis explains. “He was a stray I adopted and trained to be a police dog. Just as Odette was your friend, he was mine.”
Bastet was surprised by this information. She had operated on the assumption that Upu had always been a part of his Access Key. But even more than that, she was surprised at Anubis for being open to her about this.
“The real Upu is gone. He saved my life during a mission.” Anubis looked down as if trying to shake away a painful memory. Silence befell the pair once more.
“Our power as Modifiers does seem unfair, isn’t it? To be saved by the ones we live to protect. We have a fair advantage against dying but we cannot stop death for others.”
“Yeah,” Bastet said softly. “Modifiers tend to outlive a lot of things.”
The thought of outliving human connections often crosses Bastet’s mind. She thinks about the friends she’s made since she was young to her colleagues at CORG and how someday she might stand witness to their end while she remains more or less the same. She’s heard some Modifiers have even lived a hundred lifetimes, changing their identities every now and then to integrate into society.
Upu approached them slowly, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Anubis reaches out to pet him just as he’s always done. He knew too well what Bastet meant. Since awakening, he understood his mission. There was a time he thought he was fine with being alone as long as he does his duty. Awakened he may be, he remains a human at his core.
He recalls Upu back to his Access Key. Slowly, the fragments fade.
“You know Senpai, my life was very different years ago. But my desire to make people happy has never changed,” Bastet reaches for the letter in the bag. “I joined CORG because I know I can help more on a larger scale. Even though we cannot prevent death, we help ensure humanity lives.”
Though the light was dim around them, Bastet swears she saw Anubis smile, if for a moment. The pair talk more, mostly it was just Bastet sharing about her life. Anubis learns she visits here whenever she feels nostalgic even when the school eventually closed when her mentor passed. They finished the remaining desserts as they talk. Even though Anubis only shared bits about his life, Bastet was happy to know a little more about him.
An idea pops into her head. “Shall I dance for you, Senpai?” she grins.
Unexpectedly, Anubis decides to humor her. She blinks, thinking she misheard him but his look tells her otherwise. After feeling a little flushed and composing herself, she gets up, almost in a weightless manner. For the first time, Anubis pays close attention to her movements and he realizes that unintentionally or not, Bastet continues to move like a ballerina with motions as if she glides on air and a posture acquired from years of practice. She finds the brightest spot in the room, illuminated by moonlight.
In preparation, Bastet closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She assumes her position with one foot planted firm on the floor and the other one on point; her arms, slightly curved, slowly arches upward. When she opens her eyes, it’s as if she truly was on stage.
Although Anubis knew next to nothing about ballet, he can tell how impressive her footwork was. It was like watching her take control of the gravity around her as she leaps and spins around. Her arms move with grace as if interacting with an imaginary scene. Her expression was one of confidence and delight.
With a final sweep of her leg, Bastet takes a bow. For a few moments, Anubis could not find his words. As she straightens up to face him, he remembers to give her applause. His expression made her night.
Knowing Anubis, Bastet decided to make it up to him the next morning by submitting a written report of her absence yesterday. She arrived early to leave the document on his desk and maybe follow up on some paperwork she missed.
“Good morning, Bastet! Anubis just left for the Archives Department,” informed a coworker when they saw Bastet leave something on his desk.
They exchanged pleasantries and Bastet thanks them for telling her. She had arrived at least 10 minutes earlier than their usual work hours but Anubis still had a head start on her. She smiles at the thought.
“By the way, another client left something for you. It’s on your desk.”
Bastet was expecting another box of pastries for her. Most of the time, her gifts from clients were food such as home cooked meals, pastries, a bunch of vegetables, or even some food vouchers from certain restaurants. This time, she finds a bouquet of flowers waiting for her.
It was a bouquet of Nile Lilies all neatly wrapped in paper. The familiarity takes her back to her ballet days when she receives the same flowers after a performance. Holding it close, she finds a card tucked among the bunch.
“Never lose your dance, in this lifetime or the next.”
Bastet just smiles. I will, Senpai.