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The convention centre smelled of ozone, expensive cologne, and tyre shine.
In the centre of the showroom floor, illuminated by spotlights so bright, standing underneath them would no doubt tan your skin, sat the star of the show – the Valkyrie X - a sleek, matte-black beast of a car that was the brainchild of one of the motor world’s most eccentric, but innovative, minds, and no doubt cost more than the entire neighbourhood Mona had grown up in and called home before home became prison.
A crowd of investors and tech moguls cooed over it, sipping champagne and nibbling on canapes with food Mona had never heard of, pretending they understood the laundry list of specs that were listed in the glossy brochures that were in the hands of all those who wanted a chance to bid on this beauty.
And probably leave it to rot in their garage, rather than use it for the purpose it was designed for – speed.
Mona stood beside a pillar as she imagined herself behind the wheel, Ellie by her side, as they sped out of the city and somewhere where nobody could bother them, somewhere where she and Ellie could escape their past and forget about their current lives.
Ellie might disapprove, she thought, she loves her job. She’s made a new start.
What if, when this is all over, I don’t fit into her new life?
She grabbed a sparkling water from a waitress walking by, sipping on it, careful not to get any drops on the tailored pantsuit that she had been delighted to pick out on the Agency’s dime, dissecting every single person that her eyes landed on.
Someone here was planning to cause chaos.
They were here to stop it by, perhaps counterintuitively, nabbing the keys to the Valkyrie first, keeping them safe until they had identified their target.
“They’re moving again,” she murmured into the small mic in her lapel, “And Martin’s just arrived on the floor.”
Martin Shaw-Prior. The eccentric mind in question.
“Got it Mona,” Ellie’s voice came back, clear and confident, “I’m coming down – just keep an eye on the perimeter.”
“Copy.”
Mona continued to take sips of the water, her gaze lingering on the car.
It was beautiful. It was dangerous.
Me in a car.
“It has far too much drag on the rear spoiler.”
The voice was like silk wrapped around a razor blade.
Mona froze, her grip tightening on the glass still in her hand. She closed her eyes, trying to mellow out her breathing.
She didn’t need to turn around to know who was standing behind her; she knew that voice and that scent – jasmine and burnt rubber – far too well.
She’d hoped it would be long enough that she would be able to forget.
“Violetta,” Mona breathed out, turning slowly, trying to keep her face neutral.
Violetta was leaning against a display stand of a model of the Valkyrie, looking devastatingly effortless in a red dress that was cut so low, it left almost nothing to the imagination. Her dark hair – when had she gone back to black? – was slicked back, her lips painted a blood-red that matched the brake calipers on the Valkyrie.
“Layla,” Violetta purred, pushing herself off the display and closing the already short distance between the two of them. She looked Mona up and down, as though she was a tiny animal she had cornered, her eyes glittering with amusement.
“You look… tamed. Domesticated even.”
“Walk away, Violetta. I’m working. And don’t use that name,” she told the woman, looking back towards Shaw Prior, whom Ellie had engaged in deep conversation, a handful of guests crowding around them, the conversation evidently going well, what with the bouts of laughter escaping.
“Working?” Violetta laughed softly, and Mona felt like she was a teen all over again.
You’re not her anymore, not-
“You work for the other side now, L? Word travels fast, you know. There aren't many ways you can leave prison on your own two feet. You know, it broke my heart, truly. After everything I taught you, you turned snitch.
“You don’t have a heart,” Mona snapped, trying to keep her voice steady. “If you did, you wouldn’t have left me in that alley, V. You knew they were coming, and you left me there. You could have turned back. You could have helped me after. But you freaked out, didn’t you?
V stepped back around, blocking Mona’s view of the Valkyrie and Ellie, invading Mona’s personal space. V’s face contorted into something sharper, colder.
“You think I was scared?” Violetta whispered, “Oh, Mona, you still don’t get it?”
Mona frowned, stepping back until her heels hit the pillar, “What?”
“I saw the cops. I knew they were coming. Don’t you remember the scanner I had? I knew, Mona,” she admitted, talking quietly enough that nobody else could hear them.
This was for her ears only, wasn’t it?
Except… her mic… this was all being recorded.
This would all be on the record.
She reached for her lapel and tugged the mic, shoving it into her pocket.
“I had time, Mona, to help you get out of there. But I saw you stuck in your car, and you looked… soft,” she continued, spitting out the last word as if it left a disgusting taste in her mouth.
V reached out, her manicured nail tracing the line of Mona’s jaw.
“I drove away on purpose. I left you there because I thought a couple of years in a cage would fix you, burn out the weak streak in you. I hoped you would toughen up, make you like steel. You’d be tough – like me – and then you would be deserving of me, of my tutelage.
Mona felt the blood drain from her face – all this time, “You… you wanted me to go to jail.”
“I needed to forge you, Mona,” Violetta hissed, “But it looks like sending you to jail didn’t work. You’re somehow weaker than when I last saw you. I heard what happened to you in prison. I wanted you to be steel, but you’re glass.”
Her hand reached up, patronizingly wiping away a tear that had somehow managed to escape Mona, before turning away.
“Mona?” Ellie spoke in Mona’s ear, “We’re green. Mona?”
Mona couldn’t answer, but walked towards the terrace doors, needing air. Her stomach churned, a wave of nausea threatening to overwhelm her.
“Mona!” Ellie had appeared beside her, looking frantic, her expression shifting from alarm to concern when she noticed how red Mona’s eyes were.
“You went dark – I thought security made you.”
Mona just shook her head – “I’d rather have dealt with security than with her.”
“Her?”
“Violetta.”
“She’s here?” Ellie asked.
“She left me, you know?” Mona whispered, her knuckles still white against the railing, “She told me she left me because it would toughen me up.”
Ellie reached out and rested her hand on Mona’s arm.
“She said she wanted to make me strong, but she told me if anything, I became glass.”
Mona looked up at Ellie.
“She’s right. She… she shouldn’t have affected me this much. I thought I was past all this. I… I’m a broken mess, Ellie. I don’t know what rose-tinted glasses you have on, but you need to rip them off.”
She took a deep breath, carrying on, “You should find a new partner, someone strong, someone who doesn’t crack.”
Ellie stared at her for a long moment, trying to find the right words to convince Mona that Violetta was, to put it bluntly, talking shit.
“You think Violetta is strong?” Ellie asked quietly.
Mona nodded – there was no disputing that. Violetta was well revered in the circles she used to yearn to be a legend in, let alone be a part of.
“Well, you’re wrong, Mona. She’s a sociopath.” Ellie uncurled Mona’s hands from the balcony and gently pulled her along to the side, away from any eyes that may be prying.
“She’s not broken.”
“She’s a machine, Mona. No emotion, no empathy, nothing. That’s no way to live. If the choices are between being a machine like her, and being ‘broken’ like you, being a human like you?” Ellie responded, fixing a stray lock of Mona’s hair.
“Then I like you better broken,” Ellie whispered, “I like your cracks, Mona, just as I know you liked mine all those years ago. It’s what makes you real, and what makes you human.”
Ellie took a deep breath.
“I don’t need you to be steel – we’ve got our cars for that, Mona. I just need you to be you. Now, do you know where her car is?”
Mona experienced a bout of whiplash at that question, “It won’t be that hard to find. Why?”
“Once the party’s over, I think V’s car deserves a true spin.”